The University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art unveiled its latest temporary exhibit on Friday. The museum is displaying Frozen Wave by Marc Quinn as part of the Masterworks on Loan program.
Frozen Wave is one of a series of sculptures by Quinn meant to represent an “unwitting self-portrait by nature,” the artist’s website says. This is because, though the piece resembles a wave crashing on a beach, it was modeled on the fragment of a shell eroded by time.
Mica Pointer, a master’s student in theater arts, visited the installment on Friday. Pointer said the Frozen Wave is reminiscent of Cloud Gate, more commonly known as “The Bean” in Chicago. The piece also made Pointer think of a recent workshop he attended about the interactivity of art and performance. “It’s really resonating with me,” Pointer said, “the reflectiveness and seeing myself back.”
To create Frozen Wave, Quinn found a unique shell fragment on a beach, according to his website. He subsequently 3D-scanned the fragment, enlarged a print of it, added detail and casted it in steel. The result was the nearly 2,500-cubic-foot sculpture the JSMA now has on display.
Frozen Wave is on loan from an anonymous donor as part of the JSMA’s Masterworks on Loan program, JSMA Collections Manager Chris White said in an interview. Masterworks on Loan is a program that allows private collectors to display works of art in the JSMA, the museum’swebsite says. The JSMA currently has 23 masterworks on display through the program. The pieces range from an Andy Warhol sculpture to a Keith Haring drawing.
The JSMA isn’t the only place on UO’s campus to view art. The campus is home to nearly 100 pieces of public art that can be viewed without entering a building, the UO Libraries website says.
Frozen Wave is being displayed in the JSMA’s North Courtyard. The courtyard is open during museum hours, and Frozen Wave will be on display until May 3, 2020.
