Caveat lector: This is a long post. I considered breaking it up into several uploads, and even cutting some content in this post, but I feel it is better viewed as a whole and this could be a virtual staycation for you as well. (Notwithstanding the ubiquity of that portmanteau neologism, it's the last time I'll use it in this post.)

Please join me on a short journey. We're not going on one of my long solo photo road trips this time, but just down the road a piece to the Nasher Sculpture Center. Set in the middle of the Dallas Arts District, just north of downtown Dallas, the Center was conceived as a serene urban retreat for the enjoyment of modern art and contemporary sculpture.

It sits on a 2.4-acre site adjacent to the renowned Dallas Museum of Art. The Center was a longtime dream of the late Raymond and Patsy Nasher. Nasher was the original owner of NorthPark Mall, a few miles north up Central Expressway from downtown. When the mall opened in 1965, it was the largest climate-controlled retail establishment in the world and continues to be a shopping mecca today. The mall also is home to an impressive collection of art, and from the very beginning art and sculpture has been an integral part of its interior landscape.

The Nasher Sculpter Center is a natural evolutionary progression of the NorthPark art collection. It's a worthy destination in its own right, and though small by comparison to other sculpture museums, the collection at the NSC is extraordinarily diverse and simply delightful.  

Renzo Piano, who won the Pritzker Prize in 1998, is the architect of the Center’s 55,000-square-foot building. Piano worked in collaboration with landscape architect Peter Walker on the design of the 2-acre Garden where the largest sculptures are displayed.

Enough background—come with me now as I take a look at my favorite pieces—not nearly the entire collection, but I hope to make our short journey here interesting enough that you'll stop by this little gem of a museum yourself. You can tell them that I sent you, but they'll just look at you funny and say "Uh huh—okaaaay. Do you want the free audio tour headset?"

The image at the top is a striking favorite of mine, and I'll devote a few images to it. Imagine that you're standing by my side as we contemplate different points of view. This piece is one that makes me feel happy to be alive, I hope it does for you too.

Johathan Borofsky, American, born 1942

Walking to the Sky, 2004 Stainless steel and painted fiberglass, 100 ft. high

Compare the first two images above. The only difference in the second is the narrowing of the depth of field in the image to focus on the girl with pigtails, but I think that simple adjustment adds some further whimsy to an already magical piece although it confuses us a bit in misrepresenting how large the installation really is in size. 

There are three figures at the base of the sculpture to join you in looking up.

A spectrum range—life to avatars

Mosquito fail! Ha! I can imagine the little sucker speaking Mosquitoese: "F**k! What happened to my nose?!"

Now we move on to some other favorite pieces of mine. There are many more at the museum than what I will show you here—I hope that provides some incentive for you to visit.

George Segal, American, 1924-2000

Rush Hour, 1983 (cast 1985-86) Bronze, 73 x 74 x 67 in. (185.4 x 188 x 170.2 cm.)

This sculpture captures a familiar scene from everyday life. Seemingly in the midst of their daily commute, a cluster of six city dwellers move mindlessly and wearily forward. It is a study in contrasts, and extraordinary in the life it shows, but lives resigned. They seem fated to their routine, numbed by fatigue and isolated in their own thoughts despite the proximity of their fellow commuters. 

I really like this last photo. You can see a larger version of it in this link.

Magdalena Abakanowicz, Polish, born 1930

Bronze Crowd, 1990-91 Bronze, 71 1/8 x 23 x 15 1/2 in. (180.7 x 58.4 x 39.4 cm.) Overall: 4400lb.

This sculpture always shocks and moves me. I can't help but think of the Holocaust when I see it, the impersonal decapitated forms stacked vertically recalls those horrific photos taken during the liberation of the camps.

From the Nasher website: As a child in Poland during World War II, Magdalena Abakanowicz lived through the German and Soviet invasions, experiencing firsthand the horrors perpetrated by dehumanized masses under the sway of evil leadership. Frequently addressing the theme of the crowd in her sculpture, she has said "A crowd is the most cruel because it begins to act like a brainless organism."

You can see how the museum site is tucked into the urban landscape a bit in this last shot in the series with the modern Bryan Tower in the right foreground and the older Cathedral Santuario de Guadalupe in the near distance. 

Aristide Maillol, French, 1861-1944

Night (La Nuit), ca. 1902-09 (cast 1960) Bronze, 41 x 42 x 22 1/2 in. (104.1 x 106.7 x 57.2 cm.)

The sound of water always enhances my enjoyment when viewing art of any kind.

From the Nasher website: Upon viewing a plaster cast of Maillol's Night at the 1909 Salon d'Automne in Paris, fellow sculptor Auguste Rodin remarked that "one forgets too often that the human body is an architecture—a living architecture."

Henry Moore, British, 1898-1986

Working Model for Three Piece No. 3: Vertebrae, 1968 Bronze, 41 1/8 x 93 x 48 in. (104.5 x 236.2 x 121.9 cm.)

Moore's work is often abstractly organic. He uses rocks, bones and shells for inspiration. This piece intimates a reclining form, a subject he returned to again and again in his career.

We'll take a quick look inside before ending this post with an outside shot.

John Chamberlain, American, born 1927

Zaar, 1959 Welded steel, painted, 51 1/4 x 68 3/8 x 19 5/8 in. (130.2 x 173.7 x 49.8 cm.)

Joan Miró, Spanish, 1893-1983

Moonbird (Oiseau lunaire), also called The Lunar Bird, 1944-46 (enlargement 1966, cast 1967) Bronze, 90 x 80 1/2 x 57 3/4 in. (228.6 x 204.5 x 146.7 cm.)

Alberto Giacometti, Swiss, 1901-1966

Diego in a Sweater (Diego au chandail), 1953 Painted bronze, 19 x 10 3/4 x 8 1/4 in. (48.3 x 27.3 x 21 cm.)

Three renditions of Diego, Giacometti's brother.

I'll end our time together now, sharing our walk though the Nasher Sculpture Center with another of my favorite sculptures. I admit that it's difficult to choose just one favorite, but this piece is just thrilling.

Antony Gormley, British, born 1950

Quantum Cloud XX (tornado), 2000 Stainless steel, 91 3/4 x 58 5/8 x 47 1/4 in. (233 x 148.8 x 120 cm.)

From the Nasher website: The figure at the center of this diffuse field of welded steel bars is based on the artist's own body. Partly inspired by his interest in quantum physics, Quantum Cloud XX (tornado) also draws heavily on Gormley's experience with transcendental meditation: "By focusing the attention on the body through vipassana meditation … I experienced consciousness at the center of a transitive field of energy."

This is just brilliant—a stunning piece. 

It's outside on the patio now, after being inside for most of its time since being acquired, and it's a perfect spot for it. You can see a shot of mine when it was inside in this link and I think you'll agree it's in a better place.

Thanks very much for walking with me. I enjoyed my time with you. If you ever happen to find yourself in Dallas, please let me know and we'll take off the virtual wrapper and do this again in real time—together.

all images copyright © 2007, 2008, 2009 by barry b. doyle • all rights reserved

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