Freeform

Freeform, 1993

Richard Hunt

Façade, Michael A. Bilandic Building

160 North LaSalle Street

            This 21-story building and former seat of state government, designed by the architectural firm D.H. Burnham and Company in 1920, fell into disrepair after the opening of the James R. Thompson Center in 1985. Extensive renovation was completed by Holabird and Root in 1992 and, the following year, Richard Hunt’s massive, stainless steel Freeform was installed on the façade in front of the 7^th and 8^th floors. Weighing approximately three tons and measuring 26 x 35 feet, the curvilinear forms are suggestive of flickering flames and belie the tremendous weight and size of the piece. Although unusual for Hunt, in that the piece is attached to a building rather than a freestanding sculpture, its appearance follows the artist’s ongoing interest in harmonizing the tension between the natural and the industrial, the organic and the abstract, and the traditional and the contemporary.  

Other works:

• Building Growing
• Eagle Columns
• Fox Box Hybrid
• From Here to There
• Slabs of the Sunburnt West
• We Will
• Why
• Winged Form

Why

Why, 1975

Richard Hunt

Smart Museum

University of Chicago

5550 South Greenwood Avenue

            Erected in honor of Samuel H. Nerlove, a University of Chicago professor of Economics known for his questioning nature, this cast bronze piece is one of a series of works that Hunt describes as “hybrids.” With abstract but suggestive biomorphic forms emerging from a geometric base, Hunt creates a sculpture that seems to be part plant, part animal but allows the viewer to make his or her own associations. 

         Originally located in the College Center quadrangle, its present location outside the Smart Museum of Art is a more intimate space that lends itself to longer engagement with the work.  


Other works:

• Building Growing
• Eagle Columns
• Fox Box Hybrid
• Freeform
• From Here to There
• Slabs of the Sunburnt West
• We Will
• Winged Form

Building Growing

Building Growing, 2012

Richard Hunt

Chicago State University campus

9501 South King Drive

            Unveiled on November 7, 2012, Building Growing is by renowned Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt (born 1935). Commissioned by The Capital Development Board of the State of Illinois and expedited by the Chicago State University Foundation, Building Growing is a towering, 50-foot tall welded stainless steel work that weighs 20,000 pounds. The sculpture arrived at the site in two parts and had to be assembled in mid-air. The art rigging and installation firm Methods & Materials, Inc. assisted Richard Hunt and his team with the assembly process.

            Recipient of the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center, Richard Hunt is a prolific and highly respected Chicago artist who has completed more public sculptures than any other artist in the country. One of the recurring themes in his work is the reconciliation of the organic and the industrial, and his sculpture expresses this idea in formal terms, in the use of welded steel to create both geometric and curvilinear forms. This monument starts with a firm foundation, proceeds into an inverted triangle shape that may be read as a pedestal, and culminates with a writhing form that appears both angular and twisted. In conjunction with the title Building Growing, the sculpture seems a fitting tribute to a public, urban university that seeks to provide a strong educational foundation so that students are better prepared for the challenges of growth, whether professional, social or spiritual.


Other works:

• Eagle Columns
• Fox Box Hybrid
• Freeform
• From Here to There
• Slabs of the Sunburnt West
• We Will
• Why
• Winged Form

Eagle Columns

Eagle Columns, 1989

Richard Hunt

Jonquil Park

Corner of West Wrightwood and North Sheffield Avenues

            Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and donations from local residents, these three angular, stylized eagle forms appear to be rising in various states of flight from the bronze pylons below. Created by Chicago-based sculptor Richard Hunt, this work commemorates politician John Peter Altgeld (Governor of Illinois 1893-1897) and was inspired by a 1913 poem by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay entitled “The Eagle That Is Forgotten.” Lindsay was a native of Springfield, Illinois and troubadour poet who spent years traveling without money and trading his poetry for food and shelter. He wrote the poem in honor of Altgeld’s principled decision in 1893 to pardon the three remaining men, out of the seven, convicted of murder and sentenced to death following the bombing at the Haymarket Riot in 1886. Although the trial is viewed today as a mockery of justice, Altgeld was criticized harshly at the time and it was not until after the publication of Lindsay’s poem that some citizens began to view the Governor as a forgotten hero. In 1915, a figurative sculpture of Altgeld by Gutzon Borglum was erected in Lincoln Park.

            Hunt has produced a number of abstract welded-metal sculptures commemorating important figures from United States history, including works that honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in both Chicago and Memphis and an indoor installation entitled “Jacob’s Ladder” at the Carter G. Woodson public library on Chicago’s South Side. Woodson is considered the “father of black history” and Hunt’s works strive to respond to aspects of the site as well as the dynamics of the community. In the case of the Eagle Columns monument, the community reciprocated when the monument showed signs of deterioration, and the Wrightwood Neighbors Association worked with the Chicago Park District to conserve the work. It was rededicated in 2010 and features a new ramp and handrail, making it fully accessible.

Other works:

• Building Growing
• Fox Box Hybrid
• Freeform
• From Here to There
• Slabs of the Sunburnt West
• We Will
• Why
• Winged Form