ON VIEW: OUTSPAN
Artist: Tony Cragg
Work: Outspan 2008, bronze
Location: Near The Lobby Bar (you can't miss it)
The rippling curves of Outspan call to mind organic and mechanical forms, resembling both a spiral shell and an extruded factory product. There’s a kind of ambiguity as it points toward both organic and mechanical inspiration. This play between the natural and the artificial adds to the complexity of the sculpture, inviting a variety of responses and associations from the viewer. It's a shell. It's a noodle. It's a slide.
Artist Tony Cragg has been a revolutionary talent in the art world for decades. In 1988, he won the Turner Prize—Britain’s most esteemed honor for contemporary artists. (Previous winners include Damien Hirst and filmmaker Steve McQueen.) Cragg's early work employed “found” materials, assembling discarded rubbish in complex mural-like displays. As his career has progressed Cragg has continued to use materials in unexpected ways, sometimes playing with scale to disrupt viewers’ expectations. His sculptures explore the expressive possibilities of bronze, steel, fiberglass, and wood, testing how new textures and forms might elicit an emotional response.
For Outspan, Cragg worked with traditional cast bronze and gave it a modern spin with bright yellow automotive paint. The result is both monumental and playful, making the enormous piece of bronze feel as smooth and effortless as a swoop of pulled taffy.
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