Where is the giant clothespin philadelphia

With expansions in size, unexpected use of materials, and subtle simplifications of form, Oldenburg created things of the imagination, not of the five-and dime. It always appears to be much more than what it really is. Standing proudly on its rectangular base, it is closely related to the forty-five-foot-tall Clothespin in downtown Philadelphia that was inaugurated on the eve of the Bicentennial celebrations in While flying over Chicago in , Oldenburg held up a wooden clothespin to his window and matched it to the skyscrapers below.

Upon returning to New York, he prepared a drawing of a skyscraper in the form of a clothespin for a commissioned cover of Ar t forum. In , the clothespin changed its geographical identity when it was used for a poster and an editioned screenprint designed in conjunction with the exhibition Object into Monument at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

When developers in Philadelphia commissioned Oldenburg in to create a Large-Scale Project, it was no surprise that they chose the clothespin.

There are several finished drawings, a cardboard maquette with the sides of the clothespin open, and an original Cor-Ten steel maquette for the Philadelphia commission.

The clothespin was also fabricated in two sets of editioned sculpture: a 6-ft. The first of the bronze editions entered the Shuey Collection in Out of a subway entrance in Center City, between the two office towers of Centre Square, rises a gigantic clothespin.

Facing City Hall tower with its venerable sculpture of William Penn, Clothespin has the jolting and humorous effect of a familiar object seen out of context. Oldenburg has been noted for his attempts to democratize art, and Clothespin certainly draws a reaction from everyone who passes it. After the installation in , cab drivers, pedestrians, art enthusiasts, and local office workers admired it or joked about it, and it soon became a Philadelphia landmark.

It is not, in fact, a reproduction of an ordinary clothespin, but a sweeping, stylized version. Claes Oldenburg is the artist who created Clothespin. He is known worldwide for his sculptures that find new meaning in everyday objects by expanding them to a gargantuan scale. Over unique voices are featured, including artists, educators, scientists, writers, curators, civic leaders, and historians. This artwork is part of the Around City Hall tour. Centre Square Plaza, 15th and Market Streets.