Met sculpture was under University of Texas ceiling collapse
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The sculpture can be seen to the left, with a construction worker on-site. Photo: Asher Price/Axios
A sculpture on loan from New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art to the University of Texas was beneath a ceiling that collapsed at the UT campus just before Thanksgiving, Axios has learned.
The big picture: In the early afternoon of Nov. 24, the ceiling of an outdoor patio at the Norman Hackerman Building suddenly collapsed. The building, only about 15 years old, houses biology and chemistry classrooms and labs.
- No one was on the patio at the time of the collapse and no one was injured, UT spokesperson Mike Rosen tells Axios.
- The ceiling that collapsed was "decorative" and the damage was not structural, Rosen said, adding that the building has reopened with the patio area now fenced off.
Between the lines: Situated on the patio was a sculpture composed of bright-red painted aluminum titled "Chilkat," a 1977 work by Canadian artist Robert Murray.
- "Chilkat" refers to the northwestern region of Murray's native British Columbia.
Context: "I see them as color configurations," Murray once said of his sculptures.
- He works them out by making a small model from cardboard or thin aluminum sheets, folding and cutting them without preliminary drawings.
- "Though his sculptures are usually monochromatic, their ridges, folds, and interior spaces create highlights and shadows that subtly shift in hue and luminosity as sunlight passes over them," per a note about the sculpture on a website for Landmarks, the UT public arts program.
Zoom out: The Met has loaned 28 modern and contemporary sculptures to Landmarks for display throughout the Austin campus.
Zoom in: "Public art is subject to the elements and damage, and there's always a plan for their maintenance," Rosen said, mentioning that art can be vulnerable to weather and vandalism.
- The Met did not immediately respond to Axios interview requests about the condition of "Chilkat" or the terms of the loan.
- Axios filed a public information request with the university for its loan agreement and any correspondence UT officials have had with the museum about the piece since late November.
- Axios also did not immediately hear back from Murray himself.
State of play: When we visited the site Thursday, now fenced in with signs that say "Falling Object Risk," all the debris appeared cleared away — but the sculpture, a bright red, was still standing.
- The art piece "sustained minimal damage and the University has begun taking the necessary steps to make sure it is repaired," Rosen tells Axios.
- "Each piece is insured, and the university maintains plans for upkeep and conservation for each piece in the collection."
Follow the money: "Brandywine," a slightly smaller-sized work of Murray's — "Chilkat" is 51 by 61 by 81 inches — is currently on sale at the Paul Kyle Gallery in Vancouver for $135,000, per a list provided to Axios.
The bottom line: "Chilkat" is "currently off view," according to the Landmarks site.