Previous | Next :: Graft : Metal Tree in Storm : National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden : DC | August 15, 2011, 1:25 am

It's been a seriously rainy day........... anyway I rolled out of DC ......... enough drama there...... maybe I'll tell you about that another day ......... but before I left I took in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden on the Mall at Seventh Street and Constitution Avenue NW. I love that place. Both the art works and the vibe of the whole place with it's nice cafe.

My fave piece is 'House 1' by Roy Lichtenstein. I have visted it often in the last decade. It now has a new neighbor as you see in the picture above American sculptor Roxy Paine’s relatively newly installed sculpture, Graft (2008–2009).

The stainless steel structure—which weighs approximately 16,000 pounds—was installed the week of October 26 2010 by Paine and his crew, who welded together 37 different components that were transported from the artist’s studio in Treadwell, New York. The 43-year-old artist has shown his other Dendroids on the Roof of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, and outside The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, among other locales:

"Paine's Graft is uniquely appropriate for the Sculpture Garden, which balances art and nature within the urban, yet verdant, setting of the nation's capital," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. "The Gallery is extremely grateful for the generosity of philanthropists Victoria Sant, president of the Gallery, and her husband Roger Sant, who are making this important addition to the collection of contemporary sculpture possible."

I was standing there shooting this metal tree on the NEX5 with the gathering storm above just about to break and pour down mega rain with dramatic thunder and lighting......... it did occur to me at the time ....... this tree is probably the worst tree in DC to stand under in a lightening storm...............

Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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