Travelogue: The Draw at Suger House by Patricia Johanson
In Salt Lake City, Anne and Martine visit The Draw at Suger House by Patricia Johansen. From Martine's report:
Patricia Johansen, The Draw at Sugar House
In a park on the outskirts of Salt Lake City is this artwork by Patricia Johansen, also nicely featured in the Nasher Sculpture Center's exhibition and symposium Groundswell earlier this year. This American artist covers yet another area of land art: a form centered on ecology. She is not so much concerned with experiencing landscape or nature as with ways in which people, plants, animals and natural systems live together. Her artworks are, as it were, habitats for different species.
Part of environment
In this artwork, you can see that happening very well. The shape of the huge flower is both a place where plants can nestle comfortably, as well as an atrium where people can congregate and an overflow area for water to drain into a nearby stream when it rains a lot. The giant stone-red rock forms on the other side of the tunnel are reminiscent of a canyon. Even on top of the bridge is another element that belongs to the artwork. Thus, it blends into its surroundings with different components.
Movements find each other
Patricia Johansen mainly creates commissioned work, just as many of the works of art in Flevoland have been commissioned. You could say that the much freer movement land art and the more subservient art in public space found each other in the eighties. For land art artists, it was a way to get their ideas funded and executed, because because of the scale and production, you don't easily produce this kind of artwork on your own.
Female artists
Perhaps it was also a way for women artists to get into the business at all, as the art market was then heavily male-dominated. Before that, watch and listen to the special panel discussion between five artists from Groundswell, in which Patricia Johansen also participates.
