Mega-Gem [SEP] creator
to 1996. In 1997 the IMA Contemporary Art Society (CAS) undertook the effort to purchase the sculpture and acquire it for the IMA. CAS President Dee Garrett led the fund drive for "Mega-Gem" and worked with the IMA to sell miniature gem sculptures created by Torreano in order to raise money. The CAS donated "Mega-Gem" to the IMA at a gala in 1997 with John Torreano in attendance.
"Mega-Gem" was acquired by the IMA in 1997 with the accession number of
world, weighing over 360 million carats. "Mega-Gem" was considered by Torreano to be one of a series of "oxy-gem" sculptures, playing on the oxymoron of combining precious gems with materials of lesser value, such as a "plywood gem," "gold gem," and "Mega-Gem" as "aluminum gem." "Mega-Gem" is one of Torreano's oversized and exaggerated jewel sculptures.
Historical information Location history.
In 1989 "Mega-Gem"