Tag Archives: tony cragg

Non-Utilitarian Use of Materials

Posted on by Bill Chance

Sculptures are rare. It’s not as if you walk down pavements dodging sculptures, do you? Sculpture is a rare use of materials. We’re in the industrial north here, where billions of tons of material are being used to make cars, pottery, books, textiles, chemicals – but how many kilos of sculpture are made today? The non-utilitarian use of material is important.

—–Tony Cragg

Runner, Tony Cragg, The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, New Orleans
Runner, Tony Cragg, The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, New Orleans

I have always been a fan of the sculptor Tony Cragg.

Especially his work, Stevenson, in the Dallas Museum of Art.

Tony Cragg, Stevenson, Dallas Museum of Art (click to enlarge)

… Oh, and the sculpture I discovered along the street in Dallas.

Tony Cragg’s “Line of Thought” Dallas, Texas
Tony Cragg’s “Line of Thought” Dallas, Texas

… Or the fantastic exhibition at the DMA when I was in need of uplift.

Exhibition of Cragg sculpture at the Dallas Museum of Art

I was very happy to find his work, Runner, a large work in polished stainless steel, along the walkway in the new expansion of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden in New Orleans.

It was like stumbling across an old friend.

Its Own Existence Whether It’s Noticed Or Not.

Posted on by Bill Chance

My attitude is, I make the sculpture in the studio on my own terms on my own time, and I want to see it go out of the studio and have its own existence whether it’s noticed or not.
—-Tony Cragg

Tony Cragg's "Line of Thought" Dallas, Texas

Tony Cragg’s “Line of Thought”
Dallas, Texas

Ever since I saw his exhibition at the Nasher a few years ago, I have been a fan of Tony Cragg. It was a tough time for me and visiting his sculpture meant something to me – it gave me an ethereal comfort. I think I found it reassuring that independently beauty still existed in the world.

Then I shot his work in the sculpture garden of the Dallas Museum of Art. Earlier this year, I found another work I liked in a museum in Houston.

At any rate, it is one thing to see sculpture in a museum or gallery – in a carefully-prepared setting – it is something entirely different to see sculpture in the wild… especially unexpectedly.

We were riding through Uptown Dallas at night on the monthly Critical Mass Ride, when I spotted a large sculpture out in front of a fancy office building – and it was undoubtedly a Tony Cragg. It was really cool to see, even if I had to keep on pedaling on.

Later, it didn’t take much internet searching to determine that the sculpture was Tony Cragg’s “Line of Thought” out in front of the Rosewood Court Complex. It has been there for a number of years, but I had never noticed it. Of course, that isn’t really my hood….

The weekend of the Uptown Ciclovía, where a street through uptown was closed to automobiles I made a point of finding the Rosewood Court (the Ciclovia route went right by it) and stopped to look and take a photo.

It was cool finding Cragg in the wild.

Tony Cragg's "Line of Thought" Dallas, Texas

Tony Cragg’s “Line of Thought”
Dallas, Texas

What Is the Meaning Of Everything

Posted on by Bill Chance

At some point we’ve got to stop asking ourselves what is the meaning of everything, maybe it’s not so very important what it means. It’s probably more important what the sense of it is.. they are two very basic and different things.
—-Tony Cragg

(click to enlarge) Tony Cragg English, born 1949 New Forms 1991-1992, Bronze

(click to enlarge)
Tony Cragg
English, born 1949
New Forms
1991-1992, Bronze

I have been a fan of the sculptor Tony Cragg for some time. During a tough time I was buoyed by visiting an exhibition of his work at the Nasher Scupture Center here in Dallas.

cragg1

photo1

There is also a nice piece of his work called Stevenson in the garden at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Tony Cragg, Stevenson, Dallas Museum of Art (click to enlarge)

Tony Cragg, Stevenson, Dallas Museum of Art
(click to enlarge)

One of the cool things about sculpture is finding work by familiar artists at new locations. I enjoyed finding a Tony Cragg work, New Forms, at the Cullen Sculpture Garden in Houston.

(click to enlarge) Tony Cragg English, born 1949 New Forms 1991-1992, Bronze

(click to enlarge)
Tony Cragg
English, born 1949
New Forms
1991-1992, Bronze

Stevenson

Posted on by Bill Chance

Tony Cragg
Stevenson, Bronze, 1939

Tony Cragg, Stevenson, Dallas Museum of Art (click to enlarge)

Tony Cragg, Stevenson, Dallas Museum of Art
(click to enlarge)

I’ve been a big fan of Tony Cragg ever since I visited his exhibition at the Nasher. It made me happy to discover this fantastic bronze in the garden of the Dallas Museum of Art.

Lost in Thought and luxury living

Posted on by Bill Chance

The Museum Tower Condominiums tower over Tony Cragg's "Lost in Thought"

The Tony Cragg exhibit is about to end down at the Nasher. The Museum Tower outside continues to stretch its mirrored mass skyward, now plainly visible through Renzo Piano’s semitransparent roof. I still haven’t heard what they are going to do about the fact that the tower is intruding on the skyspace of Tending(Blue)… if anything.

The tower will have 122 condominiums priced from 1.2 to 4.1 million dollars a pop – plus a custom priced full floor residence. I’ll never set foot in the place, that’s for sure.

Take a look at their advertising. The Nasher Sculpture Center features in every scene of fine bred humans smiling their way through their artistic day. They are using the Sculpture Center to hawk their condominiums. At the same time their tower has already destroyed what was, to many, the crown jewel of the museum experience.

I have nothing against rich people, and I applaud their luxury. But if you are going to spend that much for an apartment… can’t you throw out a dime or so and figure something out… give us back our art installation? Why did they not think of this beforehand? Tending(Blue) was the coolest place in the city. It was the best place for the ordinary citizen to watch a sunset. You can have your multi-million dollar views, but let us have our own little piece of the sky.

Please?