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Category: 1970s

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Wind Leaves by Bart Kister

Wind Leaves by Bart Kister

TITLE: Wind Leaves
ARTIST: Bart Kister
DATE: 1979
MATERIALS: bronze
DIMENSIONS: 4.5′ x 6″
TYPE: sculpture

Bart Kister’s Wind Leaves (1979) is a public sculpture dedicated to the memory of Dan McCracken, who worked at Riley Hospital for Children. Reminiscent of a weathervane, the sculpted leaves revolve in the wind creating the kind of movement and repetition that invites reverie. One leaf is oak, another is tulip. How do you feel when watching leaves blown by the wind? Why is it that repetition in movement or sound offers a heightened capacity for remembering?

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Untitled (L’s) by David Von Schlegell

Untitled (L's) by David Von Schlegell

TITLE: Untitled (L’s)
ARTIST: David Von Schlegell
DATE: ca. 1978
MATERIALS: Brushed Stainless Steel
DIMENSIONS: 55′ x 45′ x 12″
TYPE: sculpture


Untitled (L’s) (1978), by American abstract artist David Von Schlegell, uses line and perspective to reorient our relationship to space as a dimension.

Meant to act as a representation of the Pythagorean Theorem, this trio of 45-feet long by 55-feet tall figures are arranged so that each foot of the vertical bars together form the points of a right triangle.

If you are not a mathematician, have no fear: the L’s encourage interaction. Have a seat and enjoy the view!

To learn more about this artwork, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untitled_(L%27s), which includes information created by Herron School of Art and Design and IUPUI Museum Studies faculty and students in 2009 as part of “A Survey of IUPUI Public Art.”

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Unitled (Indiana Limestone) by Adolfo Doddoli

Unitled (Indiana Limestone) by Adolfo Doddoli

TITLE: Unitled (Indiana Limestone)
ARTIST: Adolfo Doddoli
DATE: 1976
MATERIALS: Limestone
DIMENSIONS: Sculpture: approx. 2′ x 3′ x 1’4″; Base: approx. 2′ x 3′ x 1′
TYPE: sculpture


Indiana Limestone (1976) was carved from a single piece of limestone obtained from the Wooley Stone Company in Bloomington. What does it look like to you? A wave? A sand dune? Maybe a clam? Whatever comes to mind probably refers to the fluid, organic qualities of the piece—an impressive achievement when working with a medium as heavy and dense as stone.

Italian artist Adolfo Doddoli first came to the United States on scholarship at Colorado College. In 1969, he accepted a position at the Herron School of Art, where he taught and practiced for 30 years.

To learn more about this artwork, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Limestone_(sculpture), which includes information created by Herron School of Art and Design and IUPUI Museum Studies faculty and students in 2009 as part of “A Survey of IUPUI Public Art.”

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Spaces with Iron by Will Horwitt

Spaces with Iron by Will Horwitt

TITLE: Spaces with Iron
ARTIST: Will Horwitt
DATE: 1972
MATERIALS: cast iron, bronze
DIMENSIONS: 4’6″ x 7′ x 5’9″
TYPE: sculpture


As children we are alert to shapes, volume, and mass—arranging and rearranging things in an attempt to test the order of things. As we grow up, we tend to lose some of this drive to question the world—falling into routines and patterns, and taking things for granted.

Composed of one cast iron rectangle, one bronze rectangle, a pair of bronze elongated blocks, and one iron plank arranged atop a white circular concrete base, New York City-based artist Will Horwittt’s minimalist sculpture, Spaces With Iron (1972), invites us to consider how balance is achieved through arrangement.

Apparently fixed, there are ways the sculpture becomes dynamic. The track of the sun and the cast of its shadows alters the careful arrangement of lines and the work’s sense of depth. And by moving around the piece, you can play with the negative space, transforming the sculpture with every step. (Note that the main subject of the piece—as indicated in the title—is space, not material.)

On loan from Newfields, Spaces With Iron has been at IUPUI since 2009. Horwitt (1934-1985) was a nationally exhibited modernist sculptor who studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. His work was well-reviewed by The New York Times, recognized for its expressive simplicity.

To learn more about this artwork, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaces_with_Iron, which includes information created by Herron School of Art and Design and IUPUI Museum Studies faculty and students in 2009 as part of “A Survey of IUPUI Public Art.”

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East Gate/West Gate by Sasson Soffer

East Gate/West Gate by Sasson Soffer

TITLE: East Gate/West Gate
ARTIST: Sasson Soffer
DATE: 1973
MATERIALS: stainless steel
DIMENSIONS: 23′ x 30′ x 17′
TYPE: sculpture

Sasson Soffer’s East Gate/West Gate (1973) acts as a fulcrum for one of the main courtyards on the IUPUI Campus, its ceaseless swirling loops amplifying the dynamism of campus life.

Although it may appear at first as one entangled unit, follow the lines from any point on the stainless steel piping to discover a pair of figures locked in a kind of dance, repartee, or conversation.

Gates normally exist to grant or bar entrance to a place, announcing and policing boundaries. East Gate/West Gate is situated well inside the bounds of the university, however, paying no heed to traditional border markings. Instead, East and West are infused. Access points are not singular or static, but multiple and dynamic.

How might this piece help us re-imagine borders in more dynamic ways?

Soffer (1926-2009) was an Iraqi-American abstract painter and sculptor of Jewish heritage who studied under the artist Mark Rothko in New York. (If you are an admirer of the work of Paul Klee or Joan Miró, see if you can spot their influence on this piece.)

On loan from Newfields, the sculpture was delivered, via helicopter, in 2009.

To learn more about this artwork, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Gate/West_Gate,  which includes information created by Herron School of Art and Design and IUPUI Museum Studies faculty and students in 2009 as part of “A Survey of IUPUI Public Art.”