Blubber

Artist Mark di Suvero (American, born 1933)

Date1979-1980

DimensionsH: 35 ft. (1066.8 cm); W: 25 ft. (762 cm); Depth: 60 ft. (1828.8 cm)

MediumPainted steel and rubber.

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1984.76

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Sculpture Garden

Label TextWhile George Rickey’s Triple N Gyratory III relies on the wind to interact with its moveable elements, Mark di Suvero’s Blubber relies on you! A split tractor tire suspended from the structure of nine painted steel I-beams creates the ultimate tire swing. Early in his career, di Suvero decided to make art that encouraged human interaction. His social consciousness has taken a number of forms, from holding exhibitions in economically depressed neighborhoods to designing urban playgrounds. His years spent working in a California shipyard gave him an understanding of structural balances of force—thrust and counter-thrust—which he uses in his sculpture. Permanently injured in a construction site accident in 1960, di Suvero nevertheless has taken a very hands-on approach to constructing his monumental sculptures. He has called the crane, used to place the I-beams, his “paintbrush.” You may swing on the tire, but please do not climb on any other part of the sculpture. Children under 12 must be supervised by an adult.Published ReferencesStriechler, Seth Ari, "Citywide Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition," [review], New Art Examiner, vol. 12, no. 5, Feb. 1985, p. 63.

"La chronique des Arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 105, no. 1394, Mar. 1985, repr. p. 46.

Mark DiSuvero, Stuttgart, 1988, abb. 112, 113, 114,115.

Mark di Suvero: Retrospective 1959-1991, Nice, 1991, repr. p. 100 (col., not at TMA site) [not in exhib.].

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 178 repr. (col.).

McMaster, Julie A., The Enduring Legacy: A Pictorial History of the Toledo Museum of Art, Superior Printing, Warren, OH, 2001, p. 43.

Mark di Suvero, Grand Rapids, MI, Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Parl, 2004, repr. (col.) p. [20].

Di Suvero, Mark, Mark di Suvero: dreambook, Berkeley, University of California, 2008, repr. p. 204 (col.).

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art; Crosby Gardens, Citywide Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition, 1984, no. 17, p. 24, repr. p. 32.