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Chicago's Top Outdoor Sculptures PICS

chicagotribune.com — *****

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  • AmyVernon, on 06/30/2008, -0/+14whether you like all these sculptures or not, they certainly are iconic. i've always hated the flamingo one, but it wouldn't be chicago w/o it.
    • acmaurer, on 06/30/2008, -0/+3I agree - but I've always wondered - which came first: the sculpture's design or its name?
    • BrentDPayne, on 06/30/2008, -0/+3Really??? I think it looks pretty cool. I haven't seen it live though. I'll have to go check it out sometime.

      Brent
      • phanfromcheese, on 06/30/2008, -0/+1Thank you for the salutation, Brent. I don't think anyone could've guessed your name without it.
      • ryan850, on 07/01/2008, -0/+0Wow. It's hard to find a way to comment on Brent's message and come off as kind of a dick.. But you pulled it off.. Congrats

        Ryan
    • edwartica, on 06/30/2008, -0/+1I remember in midtown madness, I used to drive a bus right under the flamingo and the cops chasing me would always crash right into it,
  • ClarkBender, on 06/30/2008, -0/+8I love the Ceres sculpture...
  • BrentDPayne, on 06/30/2008, -1/+8Being new to Chicago, I didn't even know some of these sculptures existed. I guess I am going to have to take a tour to visit and take pictures. I always thought the sculpture from Picaso looked a lot more like an anchor than a woman though. Sorry Picasso. ;-)
    • ColonelTribune, on 06/30/2008, -0/+2And then there's the Picasso right by City Hall. That's really iconic, especially when you consider Chicago's political history.

      I wonder how Daley Sr. reacted to it.
    • windycityhxc, on 06/30/2008, -0/+0It looks like a woman if you stand at about a 45 degree angle behind it. That viewpoint allows the pieces to sort of line up and give the vantage point of looking over the "woman's" shoulder toward the side of her face.
    • Abomonog, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1It's a ***** vulture!
  • ohnoerino, on 06/30/2008, -3/+7Love this..."(The work is popularly--and foolishly--nicknamed the Bean.)"
    • jscrilla, on 06/30/2008, -0/+5Why would it be foolish to have that nickname? I'm not clear on that.
    • kidathinnes, on 06/30/2008, -0/+1I don't get it. It looks like a bean. If there was an apple looking sculpture or something, I guarantee people would call it "the apple".
    • rdldr1, on 06/30/2008, -0/+1I call it the Bean. Everyone I know calls it the Bean. My old fine arts teacher called it the Bean. Yes, I live in Chicago.
    • casuallyevil, on 06/30/2008, -0/+1Check out Google Maps satellite view - it's marked as "The Bean."

      http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=2 ...
  • ohnoerino, on 06/30/2008, -10/+2Love this..."(The work is popularly--and foolishly--nicknamed the Bean.)"

  • cuevas4711, on 06/30/2008, -1/+38I love Chicago.
    • Thezeppelin62, on 06/30/2008, -0/+4Cheers to that.
    • kidathinnes, on 06/30/2008, -0/+3what a wonderful city
    • metalgel, on 06/30/2008, -0/+1yup, i love this city. the only other place id ever move is NYC.
  • Jpardue, on 06/30/2008, -6/+4How did this get popular with only 37 diggs??
    • pianomahnn, on 06/30/2008, -0/+5Why are there still people asking this question? Just deal with it!
  • tripledjr, on 06/30/2008, -12/+1I personally find statues boring. Possibly because their inanimate rock.
    • Hetman, on 06/30/2008, -1/+2And paintings are random splashes of inanimate paint.
      • tripledjr, on 06/30/2008, -3/+1Hence why I find them boring as well.
      • feliks2, on 06/30/2008, -1/+3And he's an animate random splash of organic matter.
    • rdldr1, on 06/30/2008, -0/+2And a prime porterhouse steak just a hunk of meat.
  • variablek, on 06/30/2008, -0/+22I don't know if someone would consider this more mixed-media than straight-up sculpture, but I think the big monoliths with the LED faces that spit water in Millennium Park are pretty cool. I believe it's called Crown Fountain.
  • gavin422, on 06/30/2008, -1/+13I live in Chicago, and I've only seen three of those. Wow.

    Also, there seem to be a lot of Chicago-themed links hitting the front page lately. Not complaining, it just seems odd.
    • kidathinnes, on 06/30/2008, -0/+7yes I have noticed that. wonder whats going on
    • n0t0kayipr0mis3, on 06/30/2008, -0/+5Olympics possibly? The race is heating up, or Chicago is that fine of a city :)
    • anillop, on 06/30/2008, -0/+5Chicago is the best looking city in the US for Architecture and Parks.
  • kidathinnes, on 06/30/2008, -1/+14"The work is popularly--and foolishly--nicknamed the Bean."

    Foolishly? How so? It looks like a Bean.
  • Hetman, on 06/30/2008, -0/+5I always read that the reason the roman goddess, "pic 6" didnt have a face is because they didnt believe there would be many building around it tall enough for people to actually see its face. But i still like the statue very much.
    • acmaurer, on 06/30/2008, -0/+1That's really interesting, thanks for sharing. It's so funny how things like that happen.
    • dpazar2, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1That statue in pic 6 is in the DARK KNIGHT! One of my favs downtown.
  • gianttoolbox11, on 06/30/2008, -1/+15Hopefully Chicago gets the Olympics so the world can see these marvels in architecture as well.
  • bearcat8543, on 06/30/2008, -5/+5more front page articles about chicago? geebus
  • Wxndel, on 06/30/2008, -0/+2I like the sculptures make out of car bumpers, unfortunately absent here.
  • n0t0kayipr0mis3, on 06/30/2008, -0/+7Chicago really does have some magnificent works or art, there are all types of sculptures, monuments and architecture strewn all across the great city, I've been to so many places all over the world but i live in Chicago and i think it tops them all. :)

    BTW if you look at the Picasso (pic 7) really closely at an angle, it's an angled view of a woman from the back, beautiful
    http://www.chess-theory.com/images5/24332_picasso_ ...
    • LordEcthelion, on 07/01/2008, -0/+0I am still having trouble spotting the woman.... :(
  • goddessophia, on 06/30/2008, -0/+4My mother is from Chicago, born and raised, and it was always fun to go visit! She went to St. Anne's Catholic School which is still around and I've visited before. There is also an amazing church dedicated to St. Judas Tadeo which we have a niche for in my home. Apparently he is the Saint you call to when everything is hopeless because nothing or no one was ever to hopeless for his attention and/or assistance.

    http://shrineofstjude.claretians.org/site/PageServ ...
  • Blademan88, on 06/30/2008, -2/+4i will bet my left nut no one here knows what the cloud gate is
    • kidathinnes, on 06/30/2008, -0/+4"What I wanted to do in Millennium Park is make something that would engage the Chicago skyline…so that one will see the clouds kind of floating in, with those very tall buildings reflected in the work. And then, since it is in the form of a gate, the participant, the viewer, will be able to enter into this very deep chamber that does, in a way, the same thing to one's reflection as the exterior of the piece is doing to the reflection of the city around."
      -Anish Kapoor
      • Blademan88, on 06/30/2008, -0/+2cool but everyone still knows it by the bean
      • kidathinnes, on 06/30/2008, -0/+1yeah i was just posting that to show where the name came from. from the artist himself. I call it the Bean as well.
  • spookyturtle, on 06/30/2008, -0/+4My school is a few blocks from there, I walk by that untitled Picasso piece all the time and never noticed that. My mind was just blown.
  • damircea, on 06/30/2008, -0/+0Very nice sculptures - "flamingo" is my favorite!
  • Sunflare670, on 06/30/2008, -0/+6I like that "the bean" is really a gate to the city. Everyone from the Chicago area just calls it by the nickname, when really its so much deeper than that.
  • rawg, on 06/30/2008, -0/+8The Cloud Gate aka "Bean" is the best one. It's great for photos because when you take a picture of it, you see yourself and everyone around you in the reflection. Also, because of the curvature you get a great panoramic shot of the Chicago skyline in the background. Brilliantly designed public sculpture.
  • Yookji, on 06/30/2008, -0/+3I can't believe they left out Virginio Ferrari's "Dialogo".

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/43004363@N00/25776171 ...
  • ChunkerMunker, on 06/30/2008, -1/+9Where's the Michael Jordan statue?

    http://evilvince.com/wp-images/Michael_Jordan_Stat ...

    Its one of Chicago's most iconic images.
  • JSStewart, on 06/30/2008, -0/+2It is difficult to get an impression of the scale from the photo of the gigantic mirrored bean known as Cloud Gate. It is huge; you can walk under it, and the reflections from the many angles you can approach it are often disorienting. Things get stretched, twisted, or flipped over - and your entire environment gets absorbed into it.

    I am surprised that the new video fountain scupltures in the same park were not mentioned. Two enormous towers with videos of faces that look out with slowly changing expressions that finally shoot a squirt of water from their mouths are a huge hit with young tourists.
    • analogs, on 06/30/2008, -0/+3"It is difficult to get an impression of the scale from the photo..."
      Clicking through, I was unimpressed by the photography in general. I've seen all of these many times and they're all beautiful but none are captured very well, including the bean.
  • omgsideburns, on 06/30/2008, -0/+4I was expecting Harry Carays statue over at the cubs stadium to be in that list. WTF?
    • omgsideburns, on 06/30/2008, -0/+4Hey idiot, don't you mean wrigley field?
  • JMitch42, on 06/30/2008, -0/+6This list is sorely missing the two lions outside the Art Institute of Chicago, and in a much lesser extent, the Michael Jordan statue outside the United Center.
  • dweeb73, on 06/30/2008, -0/+5What? No Berwyn Car Kabob?? I know its not Chicago, and its gone now but hey it was iconic! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spindle_(sculpture)
  • ghostrunnerdig, on 06/30/2008, -0/+2Many of these are in the neighborhood of the Univ of Chicago...nice.
    • Freedom74, on 06/30/2008, -1/+0what are you talking about? I live in Chicago and have seen all of them.... maybe 1 or 2 are in the U of Chicago neighborhood.
    • ghostrunnerdig, on 07/24/2008, -0/+13 of the sculptures are in Hyde Park. Given that there are only 10 of them, I'd say 3 constitutes "many."
  • xEn1gma, on 06/30/2008, -5/+1GAY
    • rdldr1, on 06/30/2008, -0/+2Awesome enigma, it was about time you came out of the closet. Im sure there are many Pride parades out there where you can march.
    • kidathinnes, on 06/30/2008, -0/+2hahaha what a waste of life
  • phatboyslim, on 06/30/2008, -0/+3Yeah - lots of home page articles about Chicago recently. As a resident, I'm not complaining but it is a bit coincidental. Maybe the digg algorithm has something about Chicago in it since Obama is from the area :)
  • drgkstep, on 06/30/2008, -0/+2Oh ***** I'm so homesick right now.
  • xEn1gma, on 06/30/2008, -0/+0Hey rdldr1, good one.

    Your picture is the epitomy of failure and I'm better than you in every possible aspect of life.

    You do win in age you old ***** face.
  • ARupp, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1How long will it take the bean to gain national fame? Or has it already?
  • cjacks9, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1We Chicagoans have christened it The Bean. So it shall be for all time.
    I've always liked The Bowman sculpture. The Art Institute Lions should have been on the list. And I saw the Ceres sculpture on top of a building in a movie I just KNEW was set in Chicago, but thought differently because I'd never seen the sculpture before. For Shame.
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