Sculpture Committee Chair Carl Schlosberg celebrate in front of Fox Plaza with Bret Price’s “Zig Zag.” Photo by Mariella Rudi.
The 20 sculptures sprinkled across Century City, responsible for transforming the medians of Avenue of the Stars and the lobbies and lawns of the high-rises, will last until May 31 thanks to the generous sponsorship of five properties.
With funding and cooperation from Constellation Place, Fox Plaza, Watt Plaza, Intercontinental Hotel, and Century Park, the Century City Chamber of Commerce Art Council’s Sculpture Committee will continue to provide docent tours, lectures, and a public art display well into 2016. Funds are necessary for insurance, maintenance, and de-installation costs.
“It’s more than just the money, and it’s more than just the art. It shows the community and their dedication and appreciation for public art in Century City,” said Carl Schlosberg, Arts Council Sculpture Committee chair and exhibit curator.
In addition, all 20 sculptures, ranging from kinetic steel mobiles to burlap codependents to blood-red monoliths, are obtainable and purchasable through the Arts Council.
“We found that as much as people notice and many want to see more and know more, fewer people than we hoped know that they’re all for sale,” said Jean Tardy-Vallernaud, chair of the Arts Council.
Since the Council began infusing art into Century City in 2009, the nonprofit organization has been characterized by zeal and innovation, organizing events and public art projects.
With overwhelming support from the community, Tardy-Vallernaud and Schlosberg have solidified Century City’s place as a world-class art site.
“Art is a civic responsibility,” Tardy-Vallernaud said, coming off a recent meeting he and Century City Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Susan Bursk had with the Department of Cultural Affairs at City Hall.
“They gave us enthusiastic commendation for [not only] bringing a community together but contributing to the City as a whole,” Tardy-Vallernaud said. “We were amazed to learn of all the artistic and cultural initiatives in which the City is directly involved. But we sense strong support, and they knew of the two exhibitions: Gwynn Murrill and this one.”
The Arts Council Chair also noted Los Angeles’s “percent-for-art” ordinance that requires developers to allocate a certain percentage, commonly 1 percent, of the total cost of large-scale development projects for public art installations accessible to the general public. This could provide property owners in Century City an added incentive for purchasing the sculptures.
The outdoor public exhibition showcases 20 pieces from 10 artists: Ken Bortolazzo, David Buckingham, Jeffrey Laudenslager, Mark Lere, Marlene Louchheim, Bret Price, Peter Shelton, Michael Todd, Edoardo Villa, and Matt Wedel.
Among some of the pieces of art on Century City’s largest streets are Laudenslager’s three 22-foot titanium and stainless steel sculptures, Louchheim’s two-part bronze and silver nickel sculpture, and Price’s 30-foot sculpture all located on Avenue of the Stars.
The Hines property, also known as 10100 Santa Monica Boulevard, features Todd’s two bronze and steel sculptures, Shelton’s cast iron sculpture, Lere’s playful mixed media works, and Wedel’s geologic ceramics throughout the lobby, west garden, and front grass area.
The Equity Office Building at 1999 Avenue of the Stars houses Villa’s female reclining figure, whereas Constellation Place boasts Price’s bold, bright red sculpture.
Another one of Price’s works is located in front of the Watt Plaza on Century Park East alongside Buckingham’s colorful steel sculpture. Bortolazzo’s stainless steel artwork can be also viewed at 2029-2049 Century Park East in front of the Century Plaza Towers.
“Century City Sculpture 2015” succeeds the Arts Council’s first powerful melding of art, landscape, and architecture – Los Angeles artist Gwynn Murrill’s 22 life-size bronze animals inhabited Avenue of the Stars between Santa Monica and Pico boulevards in 2014. Murrill’s exhibition was also extended an extra three months during its mile-long residency.
Walking toward Bret Price’s “Zig Zag” in front of Fox Plaza, Schlosberg, one of L.A.’s most renowned art dealers, mused on the visual appeal of a building so sleek and tall, partnered with the chaos of a stocky, red fragment.
“The building is one of the most outstanding buildings in West Los Angeles. It has great elegance and strength, as well as simplicity. It is a historically, as well as architecturally significant, building,” Schlosberg said. “And while the building and the sculpture are worlds apart, there is a compatibility and an opportunity to show the sculpture and all of its strength and power.”
He observed that the more vertical the building, as is the case in Century City, the less vertical the structure had to be in order to achieve complementarity.
For the Fox building, Schlosberg had placed a very low, long, slouched sculpture, which further emphasizes the strength and majesty of the building. It made a whole.
“So you have the Century City landscape, the architecture, and the art,” said Tardy-Vallernaud, who founded the investment firm Gainsborough Capital LLC but whose true passion is in the arts.
On whether each of them had a favorite sculpture in the exhibit, Schlosberg and Tardy-Vallernaud retained that like your children, there are no favorites.
“I’ve learned to love each one of them, and I use them all the time. I interact with them, I visit them, I walk by them, I look at them. I look at them at night and in the morning, in the rain, with children. They have become my backyard,” Schlosberg said.
Tardy-Vallernaud views each piece in relation to their location. Just as Price’s “High Hopes,” across from the Intercontinental Hotel, is striking because of its mega-majesty, equally as stunning is Wedel’s two-foot tall “Rock” and “Gem” in the marbled lobby of 10100 Santa Monica Boulevard.
To schedule a free tour of the exhibition or to learn more about purchasing the sculptures, call the Chamber of Commerce at 323.553.2222 or visit centurycitycc.com.
