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Public Art in Pasadena (Photos – cityofpasadena)
Series IV of the Rotating Public Art Program of Pasadena consists of eight beautiful artworks. Make a point to take a tour and spend time with each piece. They are certainly worth it.
By Toti O’Brien
– Lake and California
On the West side of Lake, South of California, at the intersection with Oakwood Place, Lisa Mann’s “George Wilson: Home (more-or-less)” is a sculpture of great beauty and striking significance. Created in 2003, then updated in 2015 and 2023, it is made out of two shopping carts, dismantled, partially flattened, painted gold, then reassembled in a shape closely matching the map of our town. The original elements are barely altered, yet the overall result is organic, almost curvaceous. It interacts pleasantly with the maze of twigs and leaves of the oak trees, against which it stands like a dainty embroidery or the flourish of an illuminated manuscript. Magically, the netted surface of the cart becomes a topography. Small square placards indicate the structures offering basic services to the population who needs them, outlining a kind of ideal city-that-cares. Other scripts, stretching along the bars of the carts, relate the daily wanderings of George Wilson, a homeless man the artist interviewed, and whose story animates the artwork like a living soul. A QR code beside the sculpture links to a page where the interviews can be heard. If the carts are clear enough indicators of the intent behind the piece, unequivocally pointing to those for whom such flimsy vessels are both pantries and closets (the most fragile among us, perhaps the most brave, those who can create “homes” out of thin air), the small house in a corner is a key word of sorts— a tiny, bright shard of hope.
– Convention Center
Driving North on Lake, West on California, North on Euclid, where parking can be found just before reaching Green, we arrive at the Convention Center. Cynthia Minet’s “Unsustainable Creatures: Elephant” is in the main hall, but—should we arrive during lunch break, or after hours—it is perfectly visible from the outside. The big animal is an eerie assemblage of plastic items—industrial, domestic, whole, dismantled—in a bright and joyful palette of orange, red, yellow. Yet, even from far, the patched body is disquieting. At a close look, it’s impossible not to detect melancholy in the pachyderm’s lowered gaze, not to see that the trunk—the exhaust pipe of a dryer machine—protrudes from the muzzle like the tube of a respirator, as if for the meek giant, even more than for us, breathing our polluted atmosphere had grown harder and harder. Here, too, the intent behind the piece is limpid and powerful.
– Del Mar and Bonnie
Back South on Euclid, East on Del Mar, “Rosa Geometrica” is on the South side of the street, at the intersection with Bonnie. A creation of In Theory Art Collective, this expansive steel sculpture unfolds like an origami. Each of its facets/petals, thanks to a clever juxtaposing of dichroic paint, plays its own symphony with the light for an overall dazzling, shimmering effect. Shades of blue dominate, inspiring aerial serenity.
– Foothill and Walnut
Still East on Del Mar, North on Allen, East on Walnut, Kellan Shahanan’s “Arroyo” is located where Foothill and Walnut bifurcate, poetically highlighting the analogy of rivers and roads. Inspired by local geography as observed by JPL satellites, a tribute to the stream that both nurtures and shapes the grounds on which we stand, four panels of steels create a toy-tower cast against the blue. The simplicity of its geometry highlights the intricacy of its lacing, strangely and powerfully reminiscent of Moresque architectures with their haunting chiaroscuro. The sky fills the negative spaces, air flowing across metal just like water through land, adding to this vertical metaphor yet another layer of magic.
– Sierra Madre and New York Drive
East on Walnut, North East on Sierra Madre until it meets New York Drive—at the intersection, Charles Sherman’s “Pasadena’s Pyramid” is an elegant steel sculpture in rusty colors. An inverted pyramid, its polyhedric structure allows dazzling light effects. The sun hitting the surface at different angles creates contrasting shades of brown. The metal takes on a woody feeling, arboreal, or else a stone quality, like a shard of meteorite came not from the future, but from a mysterious past.
– Washington and Glen
North/West on New York Drive, South on Altadena, West on Washington until it crosses Glen. In the median, very visible, though gently harmonizing with the Damien Jones’ “Labradorite Priestess” is a gorgeous ceramic sculpture in turquoise and bronze tones. The stylized female figure is two-faced, and symmetrical also on the vertical plane, as the arched arms, joining above the head, mirror the curve of her hips and legs. The head is a perfect sphere. She suggests an archaic divinity, emanating feelings of balance and wholeness.
– Sunset and Mountain
South on Glen, East on Pepper, South on Sunset until it meets Mountain. At the intersection, Hugo Heredia Barrera’s “Infinito” is so tuned with the oak trees surrounding it, that it might escape from view if we don’t pay attention. Two steel wedges (pure geometric shapes, and somehow reminiscing of palm fronds) ensconce a pile of glass plates, bottle green, like a cluster of precious seeds or else a magical ladder. Here, again, the light plays surprising, subtle, fascinating games with the glass surface.
– Lake and Maple
East on Mountain, South on Lake, at the corner with Maple Street, Dominic Panziera’s and Daniela Garofalo’s “Individuality #1” is a large mix media sculpture, suggesting both the profile of a fancy animal and a strange, enthralling calligraphy. Two-faced, slightly different on each side, tile mosaic, sculpted metal shapes, and mobile, hanging elements give a rich, dynamic, almost choreographic effect. Perhaps because of the slim, flattened shape, it manages to be both dazzling and delicate.
We hope you get inspired and explore some or all of eight artworks. Enjoy Pasadena.
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