I am posting regularly on the recent placement of the 2008-2009 ArtInPlace public sculptures along the byways of Charlottesville. Please follow me in this series as I give you a little tour...
As I have mentioned before, selecting individual pieces of sculpture for a city sponsored public arts program has some innate obstacles. Staying within the parameters of general public "taste" is probably one of the largest (and most frustrating) issues faced as a juror. It generally excludes a handful of fantastically provocative artistic pieces. Remaining politically neutral occasionally rears its head as well. In the selection of Gert Olsen's Looking For Ice, I thought this was an extremely attractive and well executed piece of art. But, as a juror, I also kept thinking it was as close to a politically charged piece we were going to get. It got my vote.
Looking For Ice is not a large piece, but it is eye catching and stands out handsomely along Schenk's Branch Greenway (on McIntire Road between Preston and the 250 Bypass). The luminosity of the Colorado Yule marble is absolutely beautiful - a pure white that as soft to the eyes as it is to the touch (give credit to Gert's technique of repeated sanding sessions). But my gut tells me no one will be able to pass by the yearning polar bear in its out-of-place Virginia home without considering the politicized fate of these magnificent creatures in their native northern wilderness. Try to look at this sculpture and not give thought to the destruction many of our actions and habits have on the environment. You don’t have to be a tree hugger to consider Looking For Ice to be a reminder that our actions have consequences. The plight of the polar bear and the warming environment is a litmus test for all of us... even here in Virginia.
Is there irony in its location adjacent to Charlottesville's only public recycling center? You be the judge. All I know is that out of the plethora of objective and subjective means of judging the quality of a piece of art, Gert Olsen has fulfilled two important ones: Looking For Ice is beautiful to look at, and it causes you to think seriously.
About Gert Olsen: Gert was born and educated in Denmark. He immigrated to Canada in 1956 then to the United States in 1962 where he gained citizenship. He has lived and worked in Jupiter, Florida since 1984. Gert started his career as woodcarver which expanded into church carving. He transitioned to stone in the late 1970s.
Regarding his sculpture, Gert says:
My sculpture is the result of working and experimenting with various materials and methods of carving. Twenty-five years of cabinetry and wood sculpture evolved into stone carving. I work with the natural texture and color of the stone to create representative sculpture of animals and human forms and to develop abstract shapes. All of the stone is personally picked from quarries and stone yards in the United States and Europe. The stone block is initially cut and shaped with modern saws and cutters, then further shaped with traditional carving equipment, including chisels both pneumatic and manual.
Gert has shown his work all over the United States at major art shows and has had work shown in galleries in New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois and Florida. He also has work in art collections in England, Switzerland, France, Germany, Japan and his native Denmark. Mr. Olsen is a member of the International Sculpture Center, Washington, DC and has received numerous awards at various art shows.
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