So I'm taking it that there's a general trend that you we're overwhelmed by the aesthetics of Portland...

Correction : *weren't overwhelmed*

Actually, I think it's lovely there, except for most of the women and this sculpture.

Nothing will ever be as ugly as that Richard Serra in downtown NYC for so many years. Everyone hated it. In fact, one night in a bar I heard someone say, "Hey, let's go piss on the Serra!"

Public art Fugly Award contender...
http://www.caplakesting.com/2006_catalog/de/index.htm

And in the private art category, the nominees are... Suri Cruise's Bronzed Baby Poop...
http://www.caplakesting.com/

and Dodi and Diana Bronzed Busts...
http://www.gridskipper.com/travel/london/dodi-diana-bronzed-122384.php

I guess bronzing is in.

It even makes me want to scurry past the photo around the nearest corner to avoid looking...

I wonder if the commission approving committee was actually stuffed full of people simply not daring to say they didn't "get" it for fear of appearing like philistines?

Lena
I dont think everyone hated the Richard Serra sculpture. Why did you not like it? Was it because you had to walk around it? Did it cut off some view for you? I enjoy Richard Serra sculptures. You can really lose yourself in them. They are overwhelming. I think Richard would take it as a compliment if someone pissed on it.

Serra's work is interesting when it's placed in the context of art theory or history, but it's really pretty stingy as a visual experience. I cannot imagine losing myself in a Serra. I have, however, lost myself in Cezanne's work on many occasions.

By the way, I like the shiny, textured surface of the Portland sculpture pictured above. I'd like it even more if that bulbous, scallion-like thing in the middle of it were removed.

There was an uglier sculpture in Portland when I moved up here in 2004, over on Alberta, an obelisk of concrete embedded with sharps of broken tile and mirror. Criminy.
Also, when I first moved up and was taking a walk downtown with an editor from the Oregonian, I was struck by one of the most aesthetically confused offices tower I'd ever seen.
"Oh my god, what is that?" I asked.
To which the editor replied, tongue-in-cheek, "Careful, that's the Portland Building, designed by Michael Graves. The locals will get very touchy if they hear you disparage it."
I told him, the thing needed no help from me. See for yourself (note, I was looking at the side with the bows)
http://www.greatbuildings.com/cgi-bin/gbi.cgi/Portland_Building.html/cid_1109295603_Portland_Building_noid.gbi

Michael Graves should stick with designing dishware for Target...

I'll be in Bilbao, Spain next month, taking in the museum designed by Gehry. Can't wait.

Post a report when you get back; you're envied

Oh, Nancy...that looks like somebody really enormous vomited bricks, glass, tiles, and slate.

Lena, be sure to get the audio tour when you visit the Guggenheim in Bilbao. It's included in the entrace fee. You might also like to go see the Bilbao airport and the footbridge designed by Calatrava. Both are exquisitely graceful. Then, I recommend a side trip to San Sebastian. Not to be missed. More time on your hands? If you've got a car, drive up the lovely coast and across the border to San Jean de Luz in France. A charming little beach resort town. Have fun.

Remends me of a hair follicle. Perhaps it's supposed to.

San Sebastian is on the itinerary. Years ago, I had a friend who was visiting from there for the summer, and she urged me to visit some day. I've got a little book on the place. It looks great.

Will probably make it over to Barcelona too, which I LUV. Was there in 2002 for the AIDS conference.