Jed Lind's sculpture “Gold, Silver & Lead,” installed at the corner of Water Street and Cawston Avenue in downtown Kelowna, B.C. (courtesy the gallery)
The Kelowna Art Gallery has unveiled a striking public art installation in its front courtyard.
The 25-foot-tall sculpture, Gold, Silver & Lead, was created by artist Jed Lind, who is based in Toronto and Los Angeles. It was originally exhibited at the Toronto Sculpture Garden’s 30th anniversary exhibition in 2011.
“I have always been drawn to installations and large-scale sculptures for how they engage and immediately confront the viewer,” said Lind. “The thing I love about public art is the variety of perspectives that come to an artwork, which is very different than showing in a gallery or museum. Ultimately, I am not concerned with the takeaway of the piece, but that it causes pause, reflection, or even confrontation.”
The sculpture’s stacked car frames, made from epoxy-coated steel plates, are based on the body of a 1979 Honda Civic. The Civic was designed as a fuel-efficient response to the oil crises of the 1970s. Its slogan was “Think Simple.”
Lind says the work poses questions about obsolescence, minimalism, salvaging and deterioration.
“Like a stack of stones marking a trail, it represents a fork in the road where humanity could have chosen a simpler existence ... yet here we are today.”
Source: Kelowna Art Gallery