Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All

It may not seem readily obvious, but Chicago is a great town for public art. We may not always understand them (the Picasso, the Bean) but we sure become proud of them.

There is a square in front of the NBC building on Michigan Avenue. Outdoor art regularly rotate through that space. I was walking down Michigan the other day and was really excited to get closer to this figure. As I approached, I couldn’t tell if it was stone or metal. It just looked really cool. I read the plaque. “King Lear,” it said, “by J. Seward Johnson” Nothing about the medium.

It feels geometric, gothic, and kind of Japanese. I studied it up close and finally felt it. Plastic! Huh.

I knocked lightly. Yup. Hollow. That makes this a copy, but I think it also makes this even cooler, don’t you think?

Tags: Art, Chicago //