Sculpture is the talk of the town

Sculptor Albert Paley said Thursday that the worst reaction to art is when nobody says anything.

That's not a current problem for Paley, whose four-piece, $3.5 million “Odyssey” sculpture recently took shape on the 24th Street overpass of Interstate 80 in Council Bluffs.

An outpouring of public reaction, both positive and negative, has been heard at the offices of Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan, the Bluffs Arts Council and at the Iowa West Foundation, which commissioned the work. While some have found the sculpture distracting and even unsightly, others have praised the jagged, 60-foot-tall chunks of stainless steel, weathering steel and bronze.

Paley, who visited the sculpture Thursday to talk to schoolchildren about it, said he was happy to reveal the creative process behind his abstract metal work.

“The main charge for me was to create an artwork that would be a landmark and a point of interest that helps define the region,” he said. “With everything important to individuals comes a tense conversation and debate. ... All of a sudden this is the baby on the doorstep. What's it mean? Why is it here?”

Few people, he said, will pass by “Odyssey” without forming a reaction or a memory of some sort.

Todd Graham, president of the Iowa West Foundation, said he wasn't surprised that the sculpture got some negative response.

“But the volume and quantity did surprise,” he said. “It's in such a visible spot. More than 100,000 people see it every day.”

Graham said other Midwestern cities have experienced similar controversy over artworks. He listed the giant shuttlecocks at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, the flying pig sculptures in Cincinnati, the Spoonbridge and Cherry in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and the Picasso sculpture in Chicago's Daley Plaza.

“Last weekend I asked people in Des Moines what they thought of the Crusoe Umbrella,” Graham said. The sculpture at the Des Moines Civic Center sparked debate when it was installed in 1979, he said, but now it's grown on residents.

“It points out the need for education, learning what the artist intended,” he said.

Paley said he studied Council Bluffs history and visited the site several times before he began working.

“I wanted to bring references and symbolism that are unique to this area,” he said.

What struck him was the flatness of the land, the bigness of the sky and a sense of nature, an “incredible starkness in winter.”

The sculpture includes references to the patchwork quilt of fields you see from an airplane window, the transformation of the land by agriculture and mechanization and the ever-present wind in blowing banners.

He also sought to reflect a sense of “motion and dynamism. Look what we're going through with computers now. It's a visually complex world, with multiple images.”

The four pieces interact with and reach to one another, he said. And the title, “Odyssey,” refers not only to travelers on the Interstate but the community's journey from nature to agriculture to commerce.

George Neubert, sculptor and former director of the Sheldon Art Museum in Lincoln who served on the sculpture selection committee, said all large-scale artworks trigger strong public reaction.

“There's a full cross-section of the community experiencing this work,” he said. “Great art is about engaging you visually first. The visual engages you mentally, involves you in responding personally. And that's good. It's an educational process we all benefit from.”

Paley will speak Friday night at the annual Contemporary Art Society dinner at Joslyn Art Museum.

Contact the writer: 444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com

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