Monday, November 1, 2010

Lady Liberty in the Fashion District

Does Lady Liberty fit the definition of mosaic? I think so. PublicArtinLA calls it a tile mural, but mosaics are art made with pieces of stone, glass, or other materials.

This fifty-foot-tall tile picture looks west over Los Angeles Street, and is part of the Lady Liberty Building, which went up in 1914. The picture, though, was added in 1987--a year after the Statue of Liberty's centennial.

According to PublicArtinLA, artist Victor di Suvero approached the owners of 843 Los Angeles St. in the 1980s, knowing they were immigrants from Iran. He suggested and designed this patriotic artwork and they liked the idea. Barbara Beall Studios in Torrance fabricated it, and Judith Harper fine-tuned and executed the design on six-inch tile.


Here's a broader view. Mr. di Suvero was also director of the Poetry Festival LA (The Fringe Festival) in 1987, which makes sense because he is, first and foremost, a poet. Wikipedia identifies him as a poet, playwrite, entrepreneur, and real estate investor. As for Judith Harker--there are many of them, but I could find no reference to an artist by that name. Barbara Beall moved her art studio from Torrance to Santa Barbara, but her work adorns the Autry Museum, Epcot Center, and other well-known places.

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