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Steve Linn
"Maxwell Street" wall sculpture

2017

$31,500
£23,803.51
€27,487.22
CA$44,016.49
A$48,840.01
CHF 25,583.45
MX$598,909.63
NOK 325,412.64
SEK 307,175.65
DKK 204,989.40
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About the Item

Sandblasted carved glass, cast glass, bronze and wood. Steve Linn describes himself as a documentary sculptor, conducting meticulous research on each of his selected subjects and choosing which references to interpret for the piece he then creates. "I was born and raised in Chicago," Linn says, "and in 1956 before my 13th birthday, my father took me to Maxwell Street to buy me my first suit. This was a momentous occasion, not because I was getting a suit, but it was my introduction to the blues. Maxwell Street was the center of Jewish pushcart commerce and haberdashery emporiums, it was also where black blues musicians congregated, played, and thrived in harmony with their neighbors. My dad let me stay and listen that day and I became a life-long fan." The merchants provided electrical extension cords from their establishments to power the amplifiers of the musicians, and in return the musicians were an attraction to lure customers into the shops. Many famous blues musicians got their start on Maxwell Street having migrated to the city from the deep south: Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, and Howlin’ Wolf, to name a few. What makes Chicago Blues distinctive was the electrification of the southern roots music, giving it a hard-edge, urban sound. The demise of Maxwell Street began in the early 1990’s with the expansion of the University of Illinois at Chicago campus into the area. Protests occurred and petitions were circulated to no avail, merchants were forced to move… and the last music was heard as 1999 passed into 2000 on a bandstand on the northeast corner of Maxwell and Halstead. The campus construction crews were ordered to block off the area and the music ceased. Linn chose to paint the story of this lively hub against a background of food signs and clothing shops, through the images of five of the musicians who played for tips and stayed on that street throughout their careers: Stovepipe Daddy, Arvella Grey, Hound Dog Taylor, Carey Bell, and Blind Jim Brewer. All of them have been recorded and you can hear their music on several anthologies. Contact the gallery for information about purchasing, or to inquire about commissioning a custom documentary sculpture portrait. Steve Linn describes himself as a documentary sculptor, and indeed, his work rests on the meticulous research he conducts on each of his selected subjects and the interpretation of the references he chooses to develop for each one. Yet his definition would seem to leave out the intensity Linn puts into the materiality of the work. His range of preference is vast and often surprising, using wood, glass, bronze, other metals, and now even holograms to depict the clues he gives the viewer about the work and personality of his subject. He most often combines them all and his mastery of each craft is truly impressive. The subjects Linn chooses for his multi-faceted portraits are often visual artists and musicians he admires, but also sports legends, workmen, and craftsmen (and women). Each tableau contains one or several views of the face or torso, first painstakingly drawn and then most often carved from plate glass or cast from a ceramic original via the kiln-formed glass technique. Tools and objects we would easily associate with the person if known to us are added in a careful composition, but Linn does not stop there. His Portraits series, begun over 50 years ago, now includes more elaborate installations and invites the viewer more deeply into the influences and relationships -- webs that creative humans weave.
  • Creator:
    Steve Linn
  • Creation Year:
    2017
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 59 in (149.86 cm)Width: 59 in (149.86 cm)Depth: 24 in (60.96 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Glen Ellen, CA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU71214631642

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