A 19 -foot-tall sculpture by artist Jonathan Cox of Huntington was installed on the grounds of West Virginia Universitys Creative Arts Center March 14.
This is the first permanent outdoor sculpture commissioned by the College of Creative Arts. Works by art students are frequently displayed for various lengths of time around the Creative Arts Center on the Evansdale Campus.
A crane lifted the 1,500-pound, stainless steel, leaf-shaped sculpture, with its marble base, onto a concrete platform.
Cox, an associate professor of art at Marshall University, worked with the Robert C. Byrd Institute in Huntington to produce moving parts and bearings for the base with the input of two engineers. The stainless steel and marble components are permanently fastened together, and both are designed to shift position in the wind like a sail.
I like the thought of it being in a different position every day, for the people in the building who will be passing it,Cox said.
TitledThe Discovery IV,the sculpture is part of a series of sculptures Cox has created using giant leaf shapes made of various materials, including wood.
The series began with �€~Discovery I,which is now in the permanent collection of the Huntington Museum,Cox said.It is the first piece that I built after I came to West Virginia in the fall of 1999.
The original design began with the idea of the stone base,he added.It represents a seed or egg forma concentration of lifethat is in the process of opening, and thats where the leaf shape springs from. This is the first time I have worked in stainless steel, and it is also my first large-scale outdoor stainless steel sculpture.
The base of the sculpture is a type of marble called Imperial Danby.
It (the marble) carves beautifully,Cox said.Im not sure what the stone weighed, but marble usually weighs about 170 pounds per cubic foot.
WVU and members of the local community, including students, faculty and staff from the College of Creative Arts, watched as the statue was being installed.
“I am so very pleased that we have a sculpture by Jonathan Cox on WVU s campus,said Bernie Schultz, dean of the College of Creative Arts.I have always found his work to be exceedingly eloquent. His outdoor sculptures open new ways for us to perceive our environment.
Cox was a visiting artist in WVU s Division of Art in 2002. At that time, he had a solo show of his work in the Mesaros Galleries at the Creative Arts Center.
His style is dynamic and expressive, and his sculptures accentuate movement through space, utilizing line and form, while demonstrating great attention to craftsmanship, Schultz said.
The response from our students to Jonathans work was tremendous,said Alison Helm, interim chair of WVU s Division of Art and head of the sculpture program.
Students and faculty have assisted in all aspects of the installation of this kinetic sculpture, which has been a year in the making,she noted.This work also serves as a sign of our blossoming relationship with art faculty at Marshall University. Our goal is to continue to foster a positive working relationship and increase opportunities for outdoor sculpture on our campuses and in our communities.
Cox has bachelors and masters degrees in sculpture from the University of Florida and the Rhode Island School of Design, respectively. He has an extensive exhibition record, including recent shows at the Huntington Museum of Art; Gulf Coast Museum of Art in Largo, Fla.; Orlando Museum of Art in Florida; and Lowe Art Museum in Miami. He has also been awarded several Gold Addy Awards for printmaking.
A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Cox spent his youth building boats with his father, and this has greatly influenced his style. Most of his works are monumental in scale.
The sculpture at WVU was made possible by generous funding provided by the Myers Foundations to the College of Creative Arts. The college has commissioned a second outdoor sculpture by Ohio artist Kevin Lyles to be created this spring.