In St. Petersburg, Florida, there's a downtown shopping mall named Baywalk. A promenade extends from its parking garage to the shops, so the City of St. Petersburg commissioned metal worker Alex Klahm to enhance the walkway with sculptures of Florida animals. Below is the promenade entrance, named the Millennium Gateway.
Klahm was assisted by Jefferson Bagley. The animals are made of steel and the curlicues are made of 1-inch-thick steel tubing. Below are some closeups of Klahm's delightful animals.
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| Times photo | Dirk Shadd, photographer |
Alex Klahm gets commissions from wealthy homeowners, but he spends approximately 90 per cent of his time repairing lighthouses around the country — in Florida alone there are 32 lighthouses that are still operational.
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Hello Mark, These are truly wonderful and attractive. It just goes to show that with a little effort a city can have something original, creative and appropriate, that will attract people to the area.
ReplyDeleteI like the crab a great deal, but my favorite of all is the sinuous vines.
--Road to Parnassus
Hello, Parnassus - There's a whimsy to almost all of Klahm's animals; as a former rabbit owner, I'm very taken by how well Klahm captured "rabbitness."
DeleteThat's beautiful. And how nice to spend money and display good taste on a public space.
ReplyDeleteHello, Columnist - The project might also be considered a gift from the artist, since Klahm estimated that the $100,000 fee was approximately half what he might otherwise have charged for such a commission.
DeleteDear Mark,
ReplyDeleteI like everything about this sculpture: The shape, those 'sinuous vines', the fact that native animals have been used as a subject, and the colours.
I agree with Columnist that it seems to me to be a fitting monument for the town to spend its money on.
However I must say that my eyes were delighted by that lovely animal in the first photograph. Is it an Armadillo?
I remember liking them after watching them on Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins (which I realise might date me somewhat). If ever Marlin was showing us a flood or some sort of goings on where animals needed rescuing, they always seemed to be saving a poor armadillo..
Bye for now
Kirk
Dear Kirk,
Delete(I used to watch Marlin Perkins, too.) Yes, the animal in the first photo is an armadillo, and I've seen one here in my community. The armadillo's head is smaller in scale than shown in the sculpture, and his armor falls close to the ground. When threatened, the armadillo curls into a ball and looks a little like a metal soccer ball. He often makes an appearance as roadkill because he's not too smart. I once read an article about a man who was an authority on armadillos. When asked how intelligent an armadillo is, this is what he said: "Imagine an empty railroad box car with a walnut rolling around in it. That's about what an armadillo's brain is like."
And so nature has given the little guy one good defense.
repairing lighthouses? What a difference from being an (amazing)sculptor!
ReplyDeleteHi, Stefan - From all that I've read, Alex Klahm keeps very busy. I'm guessing that the work he does on lighthouses can be pretty artistic, since I assume he's duplicating Victorian metalwork, which would have been handmade as well.
DeleteDear Mark - I do think that there should be more municipal sculpture and decorative objects commissioned from local artists in our towns.
ReplyDeleteIn the UK the Victorians were great ones for commissioning statues and water features in all towns and cities, which we still enjoy today.
We have been wandering around our local shopping town in the sunshine today, and apart from the architecture we have been looking at the fountains and sculpture in and around the town, some of which I am pleased to say has been made by local artists.
The combination of the gold and verdigris is very attractive. There is a touch of art nouveau to the vines, and the rabbit looks to be moon gazing as in folklore.
Dear Rosemary - The Millenium Gate does have the look of Art Nouveau, doesn't it? Those tubes were shaped with a power hammer that can be calibrated to strike a blow with a force of several hundred pounds, or to make a very delicate tap.
DeleteHi, Mark - What a fun and interesting way to beautify the city of St. Petersburg. I love the choice of indigenous animals. Are they gilded?
ReplyDeleteHi, Loi - The animals and vine are indeed guilded. Klahm used approximately 6,000 sheets of gold leaf, which were applied with brushes. Then the gold leaf was protected with a coating of acrylic urethane.
DeleteHi Mark!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post-- thank you for sharing Alex Klahm's work-- fantastic! I come from a metalsmithing background myself, and can see that his work is done with a superbly skilled hand. Often, large scale work loses something of the specificity of the subject, but here, Klahm has captured the essence of the animals and vines beautifully without sentimentality. I hope to see the work in person one day! Thanks again for a wonderful post.
Best regards,
Erika
Hi, Erika - I'm thinking that you are what is known as a Renaissance person! I didn't make it clear in the posting that the work is not just the gate. There's a promenade with two rows of columns topped by animals. Some of the images above, like the swordfish and the seahorse top those columns.
DeleteGive me a gilded crustacean and some verdigris and I am happy! This is a lovely example of art and business collaborating to make something aesthetically beautiful. Very nice post Mark!
ReplyDeleteHi, Theresa! The gold leaf has held up well — it's now a dozen years old.
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