Todd Stuart insists he doesn’t sell sculpture. Instead, his clients (and all who appreciate sculpture) commit to his work through a blend of the visceral and the spiritual that three dimensional art stimulates like no other medium.
His latest monumental piece, to bless a major residential development in Manhattan, illustrates the point perfectly.
Lloyd Goldman is a renowned New York real estate developer and president of BLDG. It comes as no surprise that he understands and values the benefit of public art, particularly in high-rise developments whose location and design so often flirt with soullessness. Searching the Internet for inspiration for his Summit high-rise project, he came across works in Todd Stuart’s Organic Forms series. They sowed a seed that through subsequent collaboration and refinement would produce a work of aesthetic refinement that has won the hearts of thousands of New Yorkers.
Voyage of virtual and visual discovery
Thanks to the power of technology, Todd was able to reach out to Goldman and his BLDG Group. He succeeded in taking them on a voyage of virtual and visual discovery long before fabrication began. More so, he did it quickly.
Goldman made contact on September 12 2017. Todd followed up with an exchange of phone calls and emails, resulting in Goldman delivering him images and plan elevations of the site. Todd fulfilled his promise to deliver a video link within four days. The video clarified for Goldman what his original Infinity series selection could deliver to viewers from a range of angles.
He also encouraged BLDG to complete his unique diagnostic questionnaire. Their responses allowed him to interpret how the sculpture would impact on and reflect back the people, place, history, culture, and philosophy of the development. The process isolated four design variations, each accompanied by video portrayals of the user experience and benefit, and costs for each.
Within a week of BLDG’s examination of his designs, Todd was in their boardroom in New York. He narrowed the design options, negotiated costs, and tightened the engineering schedule from 20 weeks to less than 12, thanks largely to his access to more than one hundred skilled artisans.
Such was Todd’s artistic and emotional engagement in the work that when offered to have his travel expenses paid, he refused. He believed that demonstrating his commitment to the work was vital to its eventual creation.
‘I’m not here to sell you a sculpture …
His opening line at the negotiations was: ‘I’m not here to sell you a sculpture … I’m here for you to love one.’
Todd believes gestures like the video and his journey to New York represent the factors that had already seen him commissioned for major sculptural works elsewhere. He has commissioned pieces installed around the Middle East, Asia, and Australia for clients such as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Education in Oman, Movenpick Hotel Bur in Dubai, Beijing World Trade Centre and a number of works in Australia for high end collectors such as the Point Leo Sculpture Park.
Many more of his works are in the hands of wealthy, international collectors who for privacy and security reasons must remain anonymous; the curious contradiction of distinction.
Goldman envisioned the work as a landmark public sculpture to complement not just his soaring 43-story Summit residential tower at 222 East 44th Street. He also saw it as an enhancement and validation of the lives of the building’s occupants, of the cityscape itself, and all who move within it.
Brick Underground, an up-market New York real estate agency, quoted Goldman’s description of Summit as ‘a reflection of the finer things in life, which is what we want to portray as residents enter the Summit, and for passers-by.
‘We wanted to provide our residents with an overall luxurious and cultural lifestyle, from the moment they enter the building.’
Multiple fields for interpretation
Fabricated in high-grade mirror-finished stainless steel, the 3.7 metre tall The Summit of Manhattan is Todd’s break-through into the United States. It offers multiple fields for interpretation, among them a reconstitution of the enigmatic symbol of infinity. It also suggests a recognition of the Chinese veneration of the number eight as symbolic of good fortune. Its sinuous curves also emerged from the artist’s admiration of the voluptuousness of the female form.
Todd says the use of the symbol represents his evolving journey from designer to artist. He believes it expresses his life’s guiding principles of creativity, mastery, and engagement. Apparently afloat on a reflective pool, the angle of the installation suggests a never-ending sequence of highs and lows made more dramatic at night by strategic lighting.
Observers have noted a connection with Chicago’s Cloud Gate by the Indian-born British sculptor, Sir Anish Kapoor. A majestic 90 tonne polished stainless steel structure, Cloud Gate is the popular centrepiece for Chicago’s AT&T Plaza. Locals have affectionately nicknamed it The Bean, after its legume-like appearance.
Todd and BLDG agreed that he would limit the series to 10 monumental editions worldwide but to have exclusively one monumental work only in the United States. Limiting the edition would enrich its authenticity and add value to the landmark project. The final contract allows for a further limited edition of smaller works under 2.1 metres as a means of drawing attention and adulation to The Summit of Manhattan as an original sculpture.
To learn more about acquiring part of the limited edition, call Todd Stuart on +61 4 5151 8865, or visit mainartery.art.
