Laumeier Sculpture Project: St. Louis, MO
Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, MO
The River Between Us
Curated by Marilu Knode, Executive Director, Laumeier Sculpture Park and Joe Baker, former Director, Longue Vue House and Gardens, New Orleans, LA
This exhibition involved a commission to create two outdoor works which address broad social histories between St. Louis, MO, New Orleans, LA, and the connecting Mississippi River.
The plane and the car sculpture are largely symbols for risk, adventure, mechanical development, and pursuits of power, land, or Empire. The works speak to a multitude of adventures around the Mississippi river and the great risks undertaken by so many including: early explorers (French and American), traders, boatmen, native people encountering new and dangerous invaders, and various affects from the wildly unpredictable river flows and floods.
On the surfaces of the sculptures I applied dates, locations, names and related information concerning the history around the Mississippi river, St. Louis, and New Orleans. The year 1927 is an important date for both sculptures and is referenced on both works. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh completed his risky international flight, a great feat with origins in St. Louis. The car holds the #27, referencing the great Mississippi river flood of 1927. Both sculpture are receptacles, responding to notions of place, nation, history and cultural complexity.
