modern & contemporary art

Lao Tzu, Mark di Suvero

Lao Tzu was not enlarged from a smaller model nor was it built in a foundry. Rather, artist Mark di Suvero gathered the materials necessary to realize his vision and, using a construction crane and platform, begin to assemble sixteen tons of steel I-beams and sheet-metal arcs.

For four years, he rearranged these components in his Long Island City studio. The Denver Art Museum bought the sculpture in 1995, and it was trucked in pieces to Colorado so that di Suvero could make the final decision about exactly where it should be placed.

The title Lao Tzu pays homage to the Chinese philosopher who founded Taoism in the sixth century B.C. and suggests, like the Taoist concept of yin-yang, a union of opposites: it is both grounded and soaring, heavy and weightless.

Pre-Columbian Art