Art & Sculpture Archives

The Softline Opera Chair: A Symphony of Possibilities

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Hunter

As we continue to tour the public spaces at Optima® communities to highlight the curated collection of Modernist furnishings, such as the Eames chair, or tulip table, etc. We find it just as important to highlight recent advances of Modernist furniture design, propelled forward by the likes of Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, and so many other masters of design. Today we introduce you to the OPERA chair at Optima Lakeview®, by SOFTLINE.

Brief History

SOFTLINE has been creating and producing innovatively designed furniture for a global market since 1979. The enterprise was founded as a division of K. Balling-Engelsen A/S, a Danish producer of technical polyurethane foam. For decades, this high-quality, flexible foam has been the material of choice for furniture production due to its unique properties.

In 2003, they became an independent, privately-owned enterprise with a factory in Denmark, where the upholstery is performed by hand, based on Scandinavian traditions and utilizing eco-friendly materials.

OPERA

The OPERA chair designed by Busk+Herzog serves a symphony of possibilities at Optima Lakeview® in its ability to elegantly blend modern and contemporary styles. From its high armrests, to provide privacy for all matters of which you may want to hide, to its backrest and cushion that completely envelopes your body.

The OPERA can also be used as a versatile lounge chair in larger configurations, much like PLANET, or in smaller configurations like PIERCE. Both of these elegant iterations can be found together just steps away at Optima Kierland® in Scottsdale. The OPERA chair provides a human-scale sense of privacy, as well as a space for contemplation or conversation in our business center. This striking piece is the perfect place for our residents to relax in solitude without being completely separated from friends, and we’re delighted to include this iconic design to Optima’s® Modernist collection!

The Cranbrook Connection: Right Place, Right Time

Posted on March 2, 2023March 2, 2023 by Hunter

Connections often happen in the places where we least expect to find them. At Optima®, a connection sprang from a love of modernization, to an idea, backed by an ever-lasting willingness to adapt through experimentation in the right place, at the right time. Imagine our surprise when a number of world renown architects and designers such as Florence Knoll, Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, and Harry Bertoia met at Cranbrook Academy of Art at the right place, at the right time, becoming colleagues, collaborators, and lifelong friends.

The Cranbrook Campus was designed by Eliel Saarinen in the years 1925-1942. He also had help from his wife and artist, Loja, and his kids, Eero and Pipsan at the request of founders — George and Ellen Booth. Everything on campus was highly considered — from the masonry, to the walls, the chairs, textiles, and colors through the use of what they called — total design. When Eero Saarinen, Florence Knoll, Charles and Ray Eames, and Harry Bertoia were on campus, Cranbrook was essentially a crucible for the beginnings of modernism in which many of these luminary architects and designers practiced and perfected their craft.

In late 2022, the design studio at Herman Miller released a short film entitled, The Cranbrook Connection. The film traces the history of Cranbrook as one of America’s greatest examples of modernist architecture and design, weaving in a thoughtful examination of furniture designed and produced by mid-century visionaries for Herman Miller and Knoll. This sweeping survey brings into sharp focus the staying power of total design, while inspiring us with the power of bringing structure and interior space into harmonic alignment.

During these seminal years, Cranbrook encouraged its students to practice experimentation in design, alongside the use of new materials. Eero and Charles had an interesting obsession with plywood. How it bent, how it felt, and sat in space. They later entered into a number of competitions with and sometimes against one another using this material. At one point, they entered the Organic Design for Home Furnishings competition with a suite of modular furniture using molded plywood chairs, and tables that would come to be the seeds of some of the most successful lines of furniture such as the Eames chair, and Womb chair.

Cranbrook Academy of Art (1940) Eliel Saarienen, Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, Flickr

Today, the Cranbrook Academy of Art remains one of the country’s top-ranked, graduate-only programs in architecture, design, and fine art. Just 75 students are invited to study and live on the Saarinen-designed campus, which features a suite of private studios, state-of-the-art workshops, a renowned Art Museum, and 300 acres of forests, lakes, and streams, all a short drive from Detroit. The focus at Cranbrook is on studio practice in one of 11 disciplines: Architecture, 2D, 3D, and 4D Design, Ceramics, Fiber, Metalsmithing, Painting, Photography, Print Media, and Sculpture.

Landscape + Light: David Wallace Haskins at the Edith Farnsworth House

Posted on February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 by Hunter

For the architectural icon Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, his impact continues to resonate throughout the worlds of design, architecture, and art. For our spotlight series, we’re happy to introduce the most recent exhibition of Chicago conceptual artist David Wallace Haskins, Landscape + Light, at the Edith Farnsworth House, which engages in a fantastic dialogue with one of van der Rohe’s most legendary homes.

The Edith Farnsworth House, formerly the Farnsworth House, is an historical house designed and constructed by van der Rohe between 1945 and 1951. The house was constructed as a one-room weekend retreat in Plano, Illinois. A rural community 60 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, and was opened to the public in 2004 as a National Historic Landmark.

Over the past decade, Haskins has had the opportunity to create experiential sculptures and architectural interventions in response to various works by van der Rohe. Haskins is one of the few midwestern artists working in the tradition of the Light & Space movement and considers Mies to be one of its earliest pioneers as he was creating minimalist works of light and space thirty years before the movement took hold in southern California in the 1960s.

As part of the solo exhibition for his 2022 artist-in-residence — Landscape + Light is composed of three installations across the Farnsworth wooded property including The Memory of Glass, Image Continuous, and Stone Landing.

Edith Farnsworth House — Memory of Glass, Photo: courtesy of David Wallace Haskins

Memory of Glass examines the recent scientific discovery that certain types of glass retain memories in a form resembling neurons. It envisions Farnsworth House as hearing and remembering an ambient soundscape that has washed over it for the last 70 years. Haskins engineered a way for these sonic memories to emanate from the house. The structure’s 12 large glass panels to reverberate as floor-to-ceiling glass speakers. Sound is both sent inward and outward, further blurring the lines between the indoors and outdoors. “Dissolving the boundary between the interior and exterior world” Haskins notes.

Landscape + Light is also the world premiere of the site-specific sculpture, Image Continuous from Haskins’ Skycube series — fabricated from a ton of skyscraper glass, which is actually half of the glass van der Rohe used to glaze Edith’s home. This visually perplexing sculpture turns the sky inside-out. Thus engaging the spectator as a participant as their position in space shifts.

Concerning its sculptural presence, Haskins explains: “We tend to ignore the sky as it enwraps and illuminates the landscape, but with Image Continuous, the dynamic is reversed — the landscape enwraps the sky, giving it presence and form. We forget the sky, or troposphere, starts at the ground and rises 10 miles high. Here, we see ourselves in the landscape in relationship with the sky. Whilst allowing us to behold its presence in a truly personal and embodied way.”

The final installation of Landscape + Light consists of a large meditative monolith from Haskins’ Stone Koan series, made from the original Italian travertine that van der Rohe used to cover the stairs and terrace of Farnsworth House from 1951-2021. Due to severe weathering, these stones were replaced in 2021, allowing Haskins to utilize them to create a number of Stone Koans and a smaller Skycube.

With our heads and hearts firmly rooted in the Modernist tradition. It’s a joy for the Optima team to see how the legacy of Mies van der Rohe continues to inspire contemporary artists. And if you’re a lover of all things Modernist, you won’t want to miss this extraordinary experience.

Landscape + Light continues through May 2023. Visit the Edith Farnsworth House website to learn more about visits and tours.

An Eero, A Deere, and Clouds: How John Deere and Eero Saarinen Inspired Georgia O’Keeffe’s Largest Painting

Posted on February 13, 2023February 13, 2023 by Hunter

Sometime in 1965, on a hot summer day at her Ghost Ranch house in New Mexico, Georgia O’Keeffe would find the motivation to complete her most grandiose painting yet, Sky Above the Clouds IV. Little did we at Optima® know, however, that the luminary architect and industrial designer, Eero Saarinen, alongside legendary agricultural corporation, John Deere, would play a pivotal role in the creation of this monumental painting.

Tracing back to June 4th, 1964 is when the story behind Clouds IV gets interesting. O’Keeffe attended the opening of the new headquarters of Deere in Moline, Illinois. Designed by the office of Eero Saarinen, the structure’s pre-rusted Cor-Ten steel exterior tested the limits of 1960s corporate architecture, veering towards an industrial aesthetic quite unique from Saarinen’s usual swooping curves, as seen with the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

Picture the opening ceremony — a lavish and extravagant affair, showcasing top-of-the-line farm machinery, along with an evening river cruise — with politicians, corporate czars and design stars in attendance. So why was Georgia O’Keeffe, “The Mother of American Modernism” there to begin with? Well, archival photos show that she was mingling with this elite crowd against a backdrop of John Deere tractors. In just about every photo she is seen with her close friend and fellow New Mexican, designer Girard Alexander. Girard had invited O’Keeffe for two reasons. He wanted to showcase his 180-foot-long collage installation documenting the culture and development of John Deere. More importantly, however, was his belief that an O’Keeffe painting would further transform the interior of their cutting edge new headquarters.

Upon her return to New Mexico. O’Keeffe executed a detailed sketch depicting the uniform cumulus clouds that she thought of whenever flying from one destination to another — hence, Sky Above the Clouds I-IV. Where would an O’Keeffe painting go in a building whose every element had been designed and polished to near perfection?

Deere & Company World Headquarters, interior of executive dining room. Photo: Ezra Stoller

From its pre-rusted steel exterior, down to the last coat rack and door handle. Girard knew of such a place: the executive dining room. This room was equipped with tantalizing Siamese silk ceiling panels that hung perpendicular to its sublime Portuguese white marble walls. The architectural effect was, by all intents and purposes, cloud-like. Sky Above the Clouds IV would have only elevated this effect, Girard thought, but the Deere team didn’t see it that way, unfortunately, and the commission was axed.

Georgia O’Keeffe in Garage — Georgia O’Keeffe in Ghost Ranch Garage with “Sky above Clouds IV” (1966), Photo: Ralph Looney

She was in the midst of a busy year. Full of other work, international travel, and even a harrowing knee injury that she was recovering from. Fortunately for us, O’Keeffe persisted in her desire to see Clouds IV to the end. She completed the work, at the age of 77, in the summer of 1965.

In 1970, Sky above Clouds IV was scheduled to be included in a retrospective of O’Keeffe’s work at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and the San Francisco Museum of Art. After being shown in New York and Chicago, the painting remained on loan to the Art Institute because it was too large to pass through the doors at the museum in San Francisco. Ten years later, due to the diligence of O’Keeffe and local patrons, the painting joined the museum’s permanent collection. Today, this 8-foot by 24-foot masterpiece hangs above one of the Art Institute’s grand staircases for all to see.

Chicago Public Art Spotlight: Agrifolia Majoris

Posted on January 30, 2023 by Hunter

With deep affection for Chicago and its commitment to public art, we can’t get enough of the monumental sculptures that abound in the city of big shoulders, from locked-land to lakefront. Today, we’re spotlighting Agrifolia Majoris by Nancy Rubins.

Nancy Rubins is an American sculptor, represented by the global gallery, Gagosian and Rhona Hoffman Gallery. She’s widely known for her otherworldly yet familiar assemblages of objects — toasters, hair dryers, canoes, mobile trailers, cast iron animals, plane parts — the list of objects continues to grow.

As seen with Agrifolia Majoris, Rubins situates these forms in relation to one another using steel wiring, all of them cantilevering over the people that stand beneath them. The tension of these objects bound together investigates their static nature as sculptures, thus revealing their monumentality and ever-lasting plasticity.

Blooming from its concrete base floats Agrifolia Majoris, recently installed (June 2022) just north of legendary Promontory Point on the lakefront in Hyde Park. To the observer or passerby, the sculpture seems to explode into a vortex of metallic animals fabricated from cast iron, each held together solely by steel wiring. This form multiplies into a variety of animals — alligators, hogs, elk, buffalo, and even a horse, much like the equestrian sculpture we recently covered, Impulsion in Scottsdale.

While completed in 2017, the installation at Promontory Point did not go as smoothly as one may have hoped. A supercell storm, with winds clocking in at 84 mph at O’Hare Airport, bypassed downtown Chicago entirely — but swept through Hyde Park instead, causing the installers to seek shelter. This left Agrifolia Majoris to brave the night ungrounded. One hundred and fifty trees fell that night. Thirty of which were found along the Lakefront near 51st Street, but the Majoris remained intact.

Dense Bud, 2016, installation view, Chicago © Nancy Rubins. Photo: Brian Guido

Agrifolia Majoris, brimming with character and charm, isn’t the only Rubins work sharing the Chicago spotlight. Dense Bud, located on the North Side in Edgewater, at roughly 5300 N. DuSable Lake Shore Drive, is made of cast iron and a subdued patina of bronze, hinting towards the passage of time. The heavier animals featured — hippos and wolves — spill out of its concrete base. These two sculptures are part of Rubins’ sculptural series Diversifolia (meaning ‘separated leaves‘), and function as “bookends” to the lakefront.

Rubins’ sculptures join the long list of legendary public artworks across the city, including Picasso’s armadillo, the Calder Flamingo and Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa.

Scottsdale Public Art: Impulsion

Posted on January 19, 2023 by Hunter

As part of our ongoing public art series, we’ve been exploring exceptional creations to be found across Scottsdale such as Water to Water, Pinball Wizard and today’s breathtaking focus, Impulsion.

Project Background

The project was commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art, and installed in December, 2014. It was announced that Impulsion, a work created by Jeff Zischke, had been chosen from 200 applicants as the new sculpture for the entrance of one of the most recognized equestrian centers in the country, WestWorld. The city of Scottsdale undertook an expansion that added 40,000 square feet of space to host special events and renovated their equidome, and wanted to celebrate the newly-opened space with a public art commission.

Today, you’ll find that the equestrian experience at WestWorld is complemented by any number of non-equestrian events ranging from dog shows to auto auctions, including the Barrett-Jackson Car Show. These various events provide great financial benefits to the community while contributing to Scottsdale’s treasure trove of things to do.

Power, Nobility, and Beauty

Made of stainless steel tubing, the reflective quality of Impulsion exhibits the brilliance of an equestrian structure floating in formation. The artist’s desire was to create an iconic sculpture to welcome visitors with a grand entry experience as they step inside North Hall at WestWorld.

Construction of Impulsion

Impulsion is an amalgamation of several horse breeds, projecting the excitement of explosive movement in equine form. In a recent interview, Zischke explains, “At the fundamental level, my intention is to create a site-specific work that is unique, educational, and interactive. To create a catalyst for an experience that tells visitors that Scottsdale is a place on the move. A place containing all the power of the large, elegant horse they are gazing at.”

Jeff Zischke is an Arizona artist who works in both the public and private art sectors, creating sculptures, mixed media and urban transformation pieces. His viewpoint on the environment he lives in is addressed through varying installations centered on organic shapes and modern technology.

Next time you’re out and about in your hometown or visiting Scottsdale from outside the community, don’t miss an excursion to WestWorld and check out Impulsion!

Scottsdale Public Art: Windows to the West

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Hunter

As part of our ongoing public art series, we’ve been exploring exceptional creations to be found across Scottsdale, from the unique Water to Water, to the latest installation, Pinball Wizard. Today however, the spotlight is on Windows to the West, Scottsdale’s first public art installation and one that still inspires the city today after more than 50 years in the city.

In June 1970, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awarded the City of Scottsdale a $20,000 matching grant to commission its own notable work of art by an American sculptor. The NEA program, Works of Arts in Public Places, would go on to fund more than 700 works of public art across the country, and Scottsdale was the first small city they approached at the time.

Two years later, in February 1972, the City of Scottsdale finished raising their $20,000 of the matching grant, and the Scottsdale Fine Arts Commision chose acclaimed sculptor Louise Nevelson to create the first work of public art for the city. Nevelson, who is regarded as one of the best sculptors of the 20th century, completed the expressionist sculpture out of monochromatic corten steel designed to patina with time. Its abstract structure and shapes resemble some of her other iconic creations.

Louise Nevelson, the creator of Window to the West, Gazing at her other artwork, 1978, Courtesy of Dixie Guerrero, ©Pedro E. Guerrero Archives

Although the sculpture was originally titled Atmosphere and Environments XVIII, thanks to its westward placement after its completion, it quickly became known as Windows to the West. Since its dedication in 1973, the sculpture has remained a treasured landmark of Scottsdale and continues to showcase how far the city’s appreciation for art has come.

Today, due to renovations on the Scottsdale Civic Center where the Windows to the West lived, the sculpture is in storage until the construction is finished in 2023. When it returns, art enthusiasts can expect the beloved sculpture to find its new home closer to the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, but with the same western spirit as before.

50 Years of the Chicago Public Art Group

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Hunter

Chicago’s vibrant public art is just one of the many things that make the city so magical. From Cloud Gate and Crown Fountain in Millennium Park to Art on theMART and Lakeview’s storied murals, otherworldly art installations bring life to nearly every neighborhood. Today, we’re spotlighting an organization that has filled the city with meaningful public art and provided a space to foster community engagement for 50 years, the Chicago Public Art Group.

History of the Chicago Public Art Group

The Chicago Public Art Group (CPAG) was founded in 1972 by William Walker and John Weber, inspired by the destruction of a mural Walker had completed in 1967 on the side of a tavern in Bronzeville. The 20-by-60-foot mural, known as The Wall of Respect, was created to protest Black erasure and honor 50 heroes in the Black community.

The wall featured a montage of portraits, including those of Aretha Franklin, Gwendolyn Brooks and Miles Davis. It featured seven sections that split the public figures: statespeople, athletes, rhythm and blues, religion, literature, theater and jazz. After its completion, the mural instantly became a mark of cultural pride and a popular tourist attraction on Chicago’s South Side. The mural was vandalized in 1971, but its spirit lives on through public art across the country and especially within the CPAG today.

Mount Greenwood Musical Playground, James Brenner

After the mural’s destruction, Walker and Weber formed the CPAG to forge partnerships with artists and communities across Chicago to transform the urban landscape. From used walls and streets to urban structures, the organization used every tool they had access to amplify their voices.

Celebrating 50 Years

Today, CPAG is celebrating its 50th year after creating nearly 1,000 works of art throughout the Chicago area. From the Martin Luther King, Jr. Living Memorial in Chicago Lawn to the Mount Greenwood Musical Playground, the organization has completed murals, sculptures, earthworks, playgrounds, mosaics and everything in between.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Living Memorial, Chicago Lawn, Sonja Henderson & John Pitman Weber

And although each piece resides in a different neighborhood, they are all rooted in the same three core principles: everyone deserves to experience great art, every community deserves a voice and art-making, and public art encourages community investment. CPAG also continues to share the same values they’ve held for 50 years, uniting artists and organizations to produce art that reflects the beauty of the surrounding community.

For those interested in becoming involved with the organization, CPAG mentors, trains, inspires and supports children and adults across the city and provides everyone with the tools and confidence they need to bring their visions to life. Learn more about how you can get involved and discover more of CPAG’s inspiring art creations here!

Architecture as Subject in Art

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Hunter

If you look closely, architecture and its influence are in almost everything, from the clothes someone is wearing on the street to the more obvious building they may be walking past. We’ve previously touched on the inherent connections that architecture and fashion share, but arguably even more significant is architecture’s relationship with fine art. Today, we’re exploring how some artists have adopted architecture as a subject in their art throughout history.

In Western art it wasn’t until the 16th century that architectural paintings popularized across Europe as an independent genre. The genre encouraged artists to use architecture as the predominant subject in the painting by using both exterior and interior views. Before then, architecture was mainly used as a background, providing balance for the rest of the painting.

The genre centralized in Flanders and the Netherlands with artists like Hans Vredeman de Vries, and it became a staple of the Dutch Golden Age art. Vredeman de Vries’ Fountain in the Courtyard of a Palace is one of the earliest architectural paintings, leaving a great influence on the art and architecture of Europe for decades. The painting displays grand Corinthian columns lining a stretched arcade. The arcade leads to a lavish courtyard in the background and, in the foreground, a fountain.

Oath of the Horatii, Jacques-Louis David, 1784

In 1784, French painter Jacques-Louis David’s Oath of the Horatii became a triumph among the public and remains renowned today. The large painting depicts a Roman legend of a dispute between two cities. In the foreground, six life-size figures pose like actors on a stage, each displaying a different character. The geometry and depth of the setting’s architecture become emphasized due to David’s use of harsh, slanted light throughout the space.

Café Terrace at Night, Vincnet van Gogh, 1888

Vincent van Gogh’s Café Terrace at Night is another acclaimed architectural painting. Van Gogh completed the oil painting in 1888 in Arles, France. The setting exhibits a brightly lit terrace of a coffee house under a night sky. To the right, a tree’s branches slightly come into view above a lighted store underneath, and in the background, a shaded church tower ascends above the city.

Like fashion, the connection between art and architecture is innate. Artists may find inspiration from the unique architecture around them, while architects may discover influence from a specific style of architecture in painting. And for decades to come, these collaborations will continue to happen, expanding and advancing the art and architectural world.

A Guide to This Seasons Art Exhibitions

Posted on September 23, 2022 by Hunter

With bustling art communities in both cities, Chicago and Scottsdale are regularly home to some of the most widely recognized exhibitions throughout the country. From a lush garden installation in Chicago to an interactive building exhibit in Scottsdale, both have plenty of thrilling shows to enjoy this autumn. For Optima residents looking to experience some of the most inspiring shows of the year, here are the ones you can’t miss:

Chicago

Roughly 25 miles Southwest of Chicago, the Morton Arboretum is home to one of the area’s most stunning exhibitions of the year, Human+Nature. The outdoor art exhibition features eight unique sculptures that range from 15 to 26 feet tall. The artist, Daniel Popper, used hard-wearing materials like glass-fiber reinforced concrete to construct the sculptures to endure Chicago’s winter weather. While Popper used the arboretum and its mission as the inspiration for many of the sculptures, he encourages visitors to connect to the stunning surroundings and discover a meaning of their own. Human+Nature runs through May 2023, and you can reserve tickets here.

Human+Nature, Daniel Propper, Morton Arboretum

Through February 2023, Chicago’s Driehaus Museum off of the Magnificent Mile is home to Capturing Louis Sullivan: What Richard Nickel Saw. The exhibition captures the demolition of many of Sullivan’s buildings in Chicago in the 1960s and 70s through the lens of activist Richard Nickel. Ultimately, the exhibit celebrates Sullivan’s architectural legacy and the unwearying efforts many activists took to save it. Reserve tickets here.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is observing its 50th anniversary throughout 2022! Flourish: The Garden at 50 is an ongoing installation celebrating the connections between art and nature. Through September 25, 2022, the garden features artwork from both local and foreign artists. The event features pop-ups and performances, including a mariachi band on September 24 and 25 and various exhibitions looking towards its future. Find tickets to the celebration here.

Scottsdale

Found in the heart of Mesa, the i.d.e.a. Museum’s latest exhibition, Imagine, Design, Build!, invites its guests into an environment rich in color and experience. The interactive exhibit features 40 works by 15 artists around the world, ranging from paintings to LED installations. With a focus on the science and art of design, visitors beyond the gallery have various interactive opportunities, like designing a building of their own! Find tickets here.

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art is also home to various thrilling exhibitions this fall. Ending on October 9, 2022, Brad Halhamer: Swap Meet showcases the work of Native American artist Brad Kahlhamer. From its sculptures to musical performances, the diverse exhibition explores the uncertainty of identity and the nomadic art practice.

Three Parallels, Phillip K. Smith III, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

Opening October 29, 2022, Phillip K. Smith III: Three Parallels is another exhibit coming to SMoCA as part of their Architecture + Art series. The site-specific installation presents itself as an interactive exhibit for visitors. Using vibrant colors, light shifts and large-scale mirrors, each step in the exhibition provides a new perception of the exhibit’s space. Tickets for both exhibitions at SMoCA can be found here.

And the list doesn’t end here! So with autumn in full gear, grab friends and family to enjoy these two special cities in artfully exciting ways.

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Blog type: Art & Sculpture