Photographer and model next to One Pointed Attention, 2014, by artist Kelsey Brookes, on a wall in La Jolla.
Here are some photos of cool art seen while walking about the streets of La Jolla. More specifically, the Village of La Jolla–the central business and cultural district which is the heart of this wonderful community.
La Jolla is an affluent part of San Diego, so there seem to be art galleries wherever one roams. But there are also many eye-catching street murals and works of urban art.
This collection of photos is far from comprehensive. These are just photos taken during several semi-random walks around The Village (including today). That’s the way this blog usually operates!
Classic religious imagery floats above entrance to Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church in La Jolla.A funny walrus and frightened fish along the roof of a shop on Pearl Street.Trashcan street art depicts Native American, whose headdress contains feathers spelling place names.Urban art on a La Jolla trashcan shows a boldly colorful Southwestern scene, with mountains and cacti.A female face painted on a La Jolla garbage container.Another similar face, composed of different hues.This eye-boggling street mural on Fay Avenue is Sexy Cash, 2015, by Mark Bradford.Most street numbers on city buildings are plain and boring. Not 910 Prospect Street!Unusual human sculpture sits near the sidewalk outside La Jolla’s Madison Gallery.Another strange figure squats nearby.This cool horse outside a Madison Gallery window was created with large pieces of junk and old machine parts.A close-up photo of the imaginative horse sculpture.On Prospect Street, a long narrow mysterious mural and a single underwater eye. Whale, 2014, Nina Katchadourian.Some interesting metal artwork above a store entrance depicts a sailboat and palm trees.It’s Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham! This fun art is outside the Legends Gallery in La Jolla, the town where popular children’s book author Theodor Geisel lived.A canvas out on public display in front of the Contemporary Fine Art Gallery in the central business area sometimes called Village of La Jolla.Someone walking down Herschel Avenue said she hated this giant mural! It’s Blah, Blah, Blah, 2015, by Mel Bochner. Perhaps it gave her the blahs.I personally like this mural of a darkly glowing tall ship. It’s titled “at Sea” and was created in 2012 by Ann Hamilton.A cool fish dangles in front of the Herringbone Restaurant.Large, unusual metal sculptures in front of the Tasende Gallery in La Jolla.Hummingbird artwork on a bench near a sidewalk, and a rose.Hammering Man by Jonathan Borofsky at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s location in La Jolla. I believe years ago this motorized sculpture stood near America Plaza downtown.I don’t know what this egg-like object is. If you do, please leave a comment… UPDATE! According to local author Corey Lynn Fayman, the artist is Andy Goldsworthy. I’ve learned this piece is titled West Coast Cairn. Goldsworthy has two other stone eggs in the United States, in Des Moines, Iowa, and Purchase, New York.
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A simple but meaningful pavilion stands at the west end of Shelter Island. It holds the Bell of Friendship.
At the west end of Shelter Island, which lies near the entrance to San Diego Bay, you’ll find a testament to the enduring friendship that has been established between two sister cities. San Diego and Yokohama are located on opposite sides of the wide Pacific Ocean, yet these two beautiful cities are closely connected.
In 1958 a large bronze traditional Japanese bell was dedicated on Shelter Island with great ceremony. It’s located in a prominent spot; ships from countries throughout the world pass it every day. The bell, created by Masahiko Katori, one of Japan’s living National Treasures, was presented during a Centennial Celebration which marked a hundred years of formal relations between the United States and Japan. The bell hangs in a pavilion surrounded by a narrow moat of water and a space of green grass.
The Bell of Friendship, which is six feet high and almost two and half tons, is seldom rung; but on New Year’s Eve the ram strikes the heavy bronze, resonating deeply–many say spiritually–welcoming a hopeful future.
The Japanese Friendship Bell was presented by the City of Yokohama to the people of San Diego in 1958 as a symbol of eternal friendship.This magnificent bell was cast by the artist Masahiko Katori who has been designated as a Living National Treasure by the government of Japan.The Japanese Friendship Bell is one of several landmarks that can be seen along the length of Shoreline Park on Shelter Island.
At the front of the simple pavilion stands a three foot tall sculpture of a young girl. “The Girl in Red Shoes” by Japanese artist Munehiro Komeno debuted in 2010 and represents the friendship between the ports of San Diego and Yokohama. The sculpture portrays Kimi, a Japanese orphan who was adopted by a loving American couple in the 1920s. The girl was later diagnosed with tuberculosis and couldn’t leave Japan. The touching story has been told many times, and has become a symbol of the goodwill that exists between our two nations. Kimi holds a rose and carnation. The rose symbolizes Yokohama; the carnation is San Diego.
The Girl in Red Shoes by Munehiro Komeno. June 2, 2009. Kimi represents close friendship between the United States and Japan.Biking past a unique and beautiful sight on a glorious summer day.
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Close look at beautiful plarn artwork exhibited on lower level of downtown San Diego’s Horton Plaza.
Should one walk through downtown San Diego’s colorful Horton Plaza shopping mall, one might see an unusual work of art. I took some photos for everyone to enjoy.
This sculpture is called Grow and is made of crocheted plarn. What the heck is plarn? It’s plastic yarn! I once watched a lady making the interesting material at Balboa Park’s annual EarthFair. Plastic bags, once converted into plarn, do in fact resemble yarn!
What a unique and environmentally friendly way to reuse plastic shopping bags!
Grow is an upcycle sculpture depicting a play between natural and synthetic elements. For this project, discarded plastic grocery bags were hand crocheted to form the plarn installation.Plarn is plastic yarn made from recycled plastic bags. It is durable, weather resistant, and can be woven to create various items.The artist Cat Chiu Phillips utilizes found materials and creates displaced juxtapositions. She includes unusual mediums such as recycled objects.Work of art, titled Grow, can be examined up close by visitors and shoppers walking through the Horton Plaza mall.A box by the fantastic plarn sculpture invites passersby to recycle their plastic shopping bags.
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A human heart hovers above the Serra Museum atop nearby Presidio Hill in this extremely unique ceramic artwork.
There’s some fascinating public art in Mission Valley that few people see. It’s located in the deep shadows beneath Interstate 8 where the freeway passes over Hotel Circle. Eyes are adjusting to darkness as motorists, turning a corner, quickly pass five ceramic panels high on drab concrete pillars. The one sidewalk is located on the opposite side of the street. To really appreciate the artwork, you have to cross traffic dangerously and stand in a narrow band of dirt right up close.
Today I walked to work past the darkly obscured art and decided to finally get a closer look.
Vital Parts, installed in 1999, was created by local San Diego artist Joanne Hayakawa. The pieces seem to be stratified, crumbling and sculpted by time and memory. They seem to blend with the dirt beneath the bare bridge.
The very dark Interstate 8 underpass at Hotel Circle features seldom appreciated public art.Vital Parts, by artist Joanne Hayakawa, was installed on five pillars of a Mission Valley freeway bridge in 1999.Mysterious fossil-like hand hovers above nearby San Diego River and what I believe are Native American structures.Human brain, made golden by underpass light, crowns image of old Mission San Diego and the ever-present blue river.Spine rises over what I believe is modern Qualcomm Stadium. This earthy art is very unusual and evocative.Chin and silent mouth seem like a timeless clay mask beside the eternally flowing river.
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Scooter with fringed canopy zooms past as I swing my camera to capture a sudden morning photo.
Here are a few interesting photos from another meandering walk downtown. I took these yesterday morning as I headed down from Cortez Hill to catch the trolley at the Santa Fe Depot. I know, there are closer trolley stations, but I was itching to venture outside into the world and got an early start…
Wednesday is trash pick up day in front of the House of Blues in downtown San Diego.Cool mural on a downtown building’s upper patio which, according to a security guard, is inaccessible to the general public.
From a distance that mural looks really awesome. The security guard said perhaps he’d let me onto the patio if I were swing by in the middle of a work day. According to some research on the internet, it was painted fairly recently by Maxx Moses, the same artist who created that super fantastic Ancestors street mural in Barrio Logan.
Mysterious elevated box on the sidewalk is colorfully painted with leaves.Vertically moving words on Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego don’t seem to make sense.Seward Johnson’s ‘That A Way’ sculpture at entrance of The Sofia Hotel.
Yep, that’s the same Seward Johnson who created the huge Unconditional Surrender sculpture by the USS Midway Museum. He’s best known for making life-size pieces like this one, which stands by a doorway on Broadway.
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During my recent walk around Coronado, I came upon a dull, lifeless metal sculpture standing at the center of a small park. But then a rising sea breeze moved the nearby trees. The sculpture began to slowly turn. I stood in one place, snapping a few pics…
Freedom sculpture at Glorietta Bay Yacht Club Promenade appears dull and utterly lifeless.Freedom turns in the wind and surfaces begin to reflect the bright sunshine.Shining Freedom sculpture catches fire! The kinetic sculpture was created by Jon Koehler.
The public art, titled Freedom, was sculpted by artist Jon Koehler and installed in the Glorietta Bay Yacht Club Promenade in 2009.
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Sea Passage sculpture and fountain between Coronado City Hall and Community Center.
Whenever I walk around Coronado, or bike down the Silver Strand, I like to pass by this graceful work of art. Sea Passage, created by James T. Hubbell, adds gentle sound and sparkling color to a long park which stretches beside Glorietta Bay. The popular linear park can be found between the Hotel del Coronado’s old boathouse and Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.
The fountain contains a sinuous mosaic of many small tiles. They appear to me like silvery blue scales, glittering and swimming in the flowing water. The organic form artistically connects two somewhat ordinary-looking buildings: Coronado City Hall and the Community Center.
James T. Hubbell also designed two striking works of public art on Shelter Island, which is located just north of Coronado across San Diego Bay. I’ve already blogged about Pacific Portal. One of these days I’ll write about Pearl of the Pacific.
Sea Passage was created in 2005 by sculptor James T. Hubbell.Artwork adds gentle beauty to Coronado’s park along Glorietta Bay.Seagulls like getting a drink of water from the top of this colorful fountain!
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Fountain of Two Oceans sculpture in front of Wells Fargo building in downtown San Diego.
Perhaps you recall my blog post from early in the summer, where I was astonished at how the Fountain of Two Oceans sculpture in front of downtown’s Wells Fargo building had suddenly turned white! Well, yesterday I saw it has changed colors once again!
I’m guessing a number of people found the weird, mottled white color unattractive. (Personally, I thought it was ghastly.) Today, the human figures appear bronze again, but much darker than before, without the heavily tarnished surface. In my opinion, this is a big improvement. What do you think?
Before the figures were painted white:
Bronze nudes of Sergio Benvenuti’s Fountain of Two Oceans.
Painted white, possibly to resemble marble:
Fountain of Two Oceans sculpture suddenly becomes white!
Now much darker, matching the fountain’s base:
The reclining human figures today have a dark, new bronze appearance!
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Bronze sculpture of Mark Twain sitting on a bench at Fenton Marketplace in Mission Valley.
A very famous author is known to hang out in San Diego. He’s usually seen just off Friars Road in Mission Valley. He likes to sit on a bench at Fenton Marketplace in front of the International House of Pancakes!
Who is this celebrated writer of American literature? That prolific master of humor and satire, Mark Twain!
According to my research on the internet, Mr. Samuel Clemens seems to get around. He’s been seen in the same pose in numerous cities. That’s because the bronze sculpture, by artist Gary Lee Price, is practically mass-produced!
Samuel Clemens gazes up dreamily from his book.Mark Twain is reading his own classic American novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.Famous author with biting wit sits on bench by fountain in front of IHOP.
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Bronze nudes of Sergio Benvenuti’s Fountain of Two Oceans.
This blog post is long overdue. The interesting pics you see here have been sitting idle on my computer’s hard drive, accidentally forgotten.
I was astonished several months ago to see that the Fountain of Two Oceans sculpture in front of downtown’s Wells Fargo building had completely changed. For the last 30 years, the two bronze figures reclining in the fountain’s basin have looked exactly like…bronze. Then–poof–one day I noticed they’d turned white!
I’m not sure if that’s white paint, or what exactly. It seems the intent was to make the figures stand out more, and appear like marble. To my eye, however, the white coating makes them garish, black-eyed, and almost ghostly. At a distance they look bland and formless.
According to an internet search, The Fountain of Two Oceans was placed in downtown San Diego in 1984. The art, now a familiar San Diego landmark, was created by Sergio Benvenuti, a sculptor from Florence, Italy.
Fountain of Two Oceans sculpture is now white.White coating makes bronze sculpture seem ghostly.
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