No controversy for artist's latest sculpture
By NATHAN CRABBE
The Gainesville Sun
Published: Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 2:11 p.m.
GAINESVILLE - The artist whose iconic sculpture of a soldier kissing a nurse in Times Square stirred controversy in Sarasota is making headlines again, this time in Gainesville.
the 20-foot-tall “Whispering Close” is a sculpture by Seward Johnson Jr. that is based on a Renoir painting.
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE GAINESVILLE SUN
“Whispering Close,” a 20-foot-tall sculpture by renowned artist Seward Johnson Jr. was installed last week in a plaza at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
The piece, inspired by Peirre-Auguste Renoir's “Dance in the City,” is the first of at least 15 Johnson statues coming to UF and Gainesville this summer.
“It's important to bridge the gap and get people on campus to explore what's here and get people off campus to explore what's there,” said Andy Howard, spokesman for UF's College of Fine Arts.
Other Johnson sculptures that will be installed starting July 7 depict people in everyday activities, such as a window washer, and replicate images from paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Edouard Manet and other artists.
The “Whispering Close” statue has been well-received, a far cry from the what occurred when Johnson's “Unconditional Surrender” statue first appeared alongside U.S. 41 in Sarasota for a temporary visit in 2005.
The 26-foot tall statue was a hit among veteran groups and visitors who lined up to have their picture taken next to it.
It was equally reviled by those who called it a cartoonish ripoff of an iconic photograph shot on V-J Day in 1945 by Alfred Eisenstaedt.
Over the years the controversy intensified, including the threat of lawsuits.
“I can't remember anything that has happened in the City of Sarasota that has invigorated us like this in my life,” said former Sarasota Commissioner Fredd Atkins during one particularly contentious meeting on the statue.
“This is amazing.”
Finally, last summer cooler heads prevailed and a deal was worked out with the help of a World War II veteran who bought the statue for $500,000 and gave it to the city. The deal will keep the statue in more or less the same spot at least through 2020.
The Gainesville statues, on the other hand, are on temporary loan through the middle of October.
A printed map and cell phone tour will provide information on the sculptures. The exhibition is expected to draw visitors from outside Gainesville and introducing them to the other innovative offerings on campus and throughout the city, Howard said.
“We're starting to form this identity of innovation,” he said.