Chicago's Mag Mile hosts giant swimmer sculptures
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"The Golden Mean" in front of the Wrigley Building. Photo: Carrie Shepherd/Axios
Chicago's Michigan Avenue has become an open-air gallery for large-scale sculptures this spring.
The big picture: "Monuments of Stillness" presents 11 works by Carole Feuerman on the Mag Mile, stretching from the Wrigley Building to Oak Street.
- The exhibit runs through November.
Zoom in: Feuerman is best known for super-realistic sculptures of swimmers, a concept she developed at a turning point in her career and her life.
- In the late 1970s and early '80s Feuerman's marriage was falling apart at the same time galleries were rejecting her drawings of women's bodies, calling them too explicit.
- One day, as her kids swam in the water, she was sitting on the beach frustrated when her eyes locked on a woman emerging from the water.
- "She's wearing a red bathing suit, like a tank bathing suit, and she had her hair slicked back and water dripping down her face, and I said, 'Oh my god, that's it, I'm going to make a swimmer that looks like this lady,'" Feuerman tells Axios.
Context: Curator Arica Hilton says each piece on Michigan Avenue corresponds to its surroundings.
- A figure in "The Golden Mean" is placed with legs angled toward the Chicago River as if ready to plunge.
- "Brooke with Beach Ball" sits in front of Bloomingdale's, close to Oak Street Beach.
If you go: An official unveiling of "Moments of Stillness" takes place at 10am on Tuesday at the Wrigley Building plaza, followed by a guided Big Bus tour of the installation led by Feuerman.