Aesop’s Fables
By Mark di Suvero
Category: Sculpture
About
In Aesop’s Fables, industrial I-beams are welded, bolted and painted red in a straightforward composition that joins together the interlocking v’s that make up one end, with the curvilinear cluster at the other. The title refers to a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller who lived in Ancient Greece. Aesop used simple tales of animals acting wise or foolish to charm listeners and offer advice and insights into human nature.
Courtesy of The Gateway Foundation.
Dimensions: 11′-5.25″ x 32′-4.5″ x 13’6.5″
Year Completed: 1990
Material: Painted Steel
Owner: The Gateway Foundation
About the artist:
Mark di Suvero
Artist Bio: b. 1933
Born in Shanghai, China in 1933, Mark di Suvero immigrated to the United States in 1941. He studied in San Francisco and at the University of California at Berkeley before beginning his sculpting career. di Suvero is best known for his monumental sculptures of painted steel beams. He successfully balances tons of heavy Cor-ten steel, stainless steel, and steel in his pieces to create a permanent fixture protruding from the earth. Inspired by the Constructivists of the early 20th century, di Suvero emphasizes the basic principles of building and geometry in his work. He challenges the stability of his structures by inviting viewers to climb, sit, and swing on his pieces. In order to build such stable constructions, di Suvero uses cranes, man-lifts, torchers, welders, and other large and small metal-working tools.
