Laumeier Sculpture Park announced the recent installation of Alexandre da Cunha’s Mix (Americana), 2013 in honor of the Park’s 40th Anniversary year. The large-scale artwork was gifted to Laumeier’s Permanent Collection by the Brazilian artist and CRG Gallery, New York, following exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA) as the fifth MCA Plaza Project. The sculpture is now on view in Laumeier’s Museum Circle, visible from the Lower Entrance parking lots.
Mix (Americana) is a full-scale cement mixer. Polished and painted in a patriotic red, white and blue, the sculpture has been stripped of its mixing duty on the back of a truck and staged instead as a functional sundial. When viewers peek inside the steel hallowed chamber, light gently reflects and refracts, creating an intricate web of shadows and shapes, giving splendor and mystery to the industrial barrel. Within the context of Laumeier’s green space, Mix (Americana) inspires discussion about the suburban landscape and the complex meeting point between natural and manmade environments.
“Da Cunha’s artwork is a sly commentary on how we now orient ourselves in the landscape using the concrete constructions of the urban world,” said Marilu Knode, Laumeier’s Executive Director. “Mix (Americana) is a meaningful addition to the artworks in the Park that frame our relationship to the environment in new ways.” Da Cunha’s artwork adds to Laumeier’s thematic focus of New Territories: BRICS, 2015–19. New Territories broadens our look at the world’s cultural zones as they have directly and indirectly impacted life in St. Louis. Projects, programs and activities twist the economic acronym BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa] beyond the market forces driving the global economy.
More information about Laumeier’s unique history will be celebrated and shared throughout the year on Laumeier’s website and social media channels (Facebook and Instagram). For complete schedule of events and activities please visit www.laumeiersculpturepark.org.