Lead Fish by Frank Gehry
Internationally renowned architect Frank Gehry, Canadian born, schooled in Los Angeles, has been heralded as a uniquely “American” architect and stylistically linked to the “Los Angeles” or “Santa Monica School.“ The 1989 recipient of the Pritzker Prize, the highest honor in the field of architecture, critics have proclaimed his warped metallic structures “brilliant and profound.“ Though Gehry professes no allegiance to a specific architectural movement his edifices are frequently categorized into the post-structuralist school of deconstructivism. This classification seems apt, given that Gehry’s buildings break from traditional notions of structure to relish in visual decadence while redefining space and shape by recontextualizing form as separate from function yet remaining compositionally conscious. Gehry’s monumental creations, which include the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Chicago’s Pritzker Pavilion, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, can be seen worldwide and are noted tourist attractions in each location. The 1997 construction of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao has been declared by many to be among the most important buildings of our time and was not only an innovation in artistic vision and use of technology, but also propelled Gehry to “Starchitect” status.
In 1986, the Walker Art Center organized Gehry’s first major national retrospective, “The Architecture of Frank Gehry.“ The exhibition opened at the Minneapolis museum and traveled throughout the states, making stops in Cleveland, Houston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, before ultimately closing at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. For the retrospective, Gehry created a large wood and lead marine life inspired structure to function as an intimate interior gallery space within the general confines of the museum walls. The installation titled Lead Fish measures 16 by 12 by 36 feet and originally held and displayed a corresponding series of Gehry designed aquatic themed lamps and hanging light fixtures.
Lead Fish exemplifies Frank Gehry’s characteristic creative balance between futuristic formal functionality and fine art aesthetic. In typical Gehry fashion, the work exists encompassing both the structural and the sculptural while remaining clearly accessible allegorically and on a literal level. The leaden scale scheme of the exterior combines the sleek modernity of molded metal while referencing a primitive thatched roof wigwam like dwellings. As well the use of the manifestly manufactured scales to represent the naturalistic fleshy fish form offers another intriguing conceptual juxtaposition. The interior acts as an intimate installation space for work within the larger work and gives the audience opportunity to experience the exhibit from mythological Jonahian point of view. In configuration, the display of the exposed curved wooden joists that go beyond support system to eloquently echo skeletal structure, further demonstrates the considered contradictions of the creation.
Inquires may be directed to Kate Pettenati at 312.334.4213 or katep@lesliehindman.com.
