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After roaming two continents, a giant whimsical winged bird will come to permanent roost this week with a sparkling debut in Charlotte.
Perched in the southern end of uptown's Tryon Street office canyon, "Firebird" is an 18-foot-tall sculpture by French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle. It will be unveiled Tuesday in the plaza of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art.
Covered in thousands of tiles of mirrored glass, the piece has dazzled visitors in previous exhibitions. It will likely become an iconic image in the city's new South Tryon arts district, which includes the Knight Theater, the Mint Museum Uptown and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture.
"It's an image of life and energy," says Bechtler President John Boyer. "We hope it is going to serve as a welcoming gesture for the entire cultural campus and for the city."
Disco-ball effect
Boyer and Andreas Bechtler, the Charlotte art patron whose collection of 20th-century modernists will fill the museum, watched as "Firebird" emerged from packing crates last weekend and was lifted into place by crane. It is made in two pieces, an arched base and the colorful bird, with golden flames radiating from its head.
"As it was hoisted, it began to twirl at the bottom of the cable and threw fragments of light, like diamonds, on everything around it," Boyer says. "It's the most magical thing when it was turning around."
Created by Saint Phalle in 1991 when she lived in San Diego, "Firebird" ("Oiseau de Feu sur l'Arche," "the Large Bird of Fire on an Arch") has been exhibited in Bonn, Paris, Basel, Geneva, Atlanta, and Chicago. Everywhere, it attracted crowds and became a favorite photo backdrop.
Saint Phalle died in 2002. She was married to Swiss artist Jean Tinguely, who was commissioned by Bechtler to create "Cascade" - a kinetic piece in the Carillon building on West Trade Street across from First Presbyterian Church. Saint Phalle, born in France in 1930 and raised in the United States, was an experimental artist, even creating paintings by firing a rifle at bags of paint attached to a canvas.
Public art paid for by taxpayers has been controversial for years in Charlotte. "Firebird" is dramatic and has the potential to generate negativity and amusement. But it was paid for privately by Bechtler. It will bring a vivid presence to the burgeoning public art scene on Tryon Street - formerly dominated by Arnoldo Pomodoro's 6-ton bronze sculpture "Il Grande Disco" placed at the Trade Street intersection in 1974 by North Carolina National Bank, predecessor of Bank of America.
On the side of the new Gantt Center is a 150-square-foot mural commissioned by Wachovia and done by David Wilson of Apex called "Divergent Threads, Lucent Memories." It features fluid, organic forms narrating the history of Charlotte's African-American community and the old Brooklyn neighborhood. A work in front of the Gantt Center is Juan Logan's "Intersections," a granite piece carved with a map of historic black neighborhoods.
Acquired by Bechtler
Bechtler saw "Firebird" when it was in Atlanta and was impressed by its crowd-pleasing impact. When it came on the market in 2006, he snapped it up from a Swiss collector for an undisclosed sum. He thought its bold, artistic nature combined with its uplifting appearance would be the perfect piece to welcome visitors to the museum.
In 2007, after "Firebird" was exhibited in Chicago, Bechtler had it moved to a warehouse in Rutherfordton for restoration.
Lech Juretko, who worked for Saint Phalle and has been "Firebird's" conservator during its travels, followed it to Charlotte. He spent the last week in the 20-foot-tall tent enclosing the bird replacing broken mirrors and buffing it. If the sculpture seems a bit worn from its travels, that's the way Saint Phalle would like it, he says.
"Niki was always saying that it's a part of aging. Your sculpture shouldn't look new after 10 years."
Care and feeding of the "Firebird"? A little detergent, a little wax, shrugs Juretko. Children's handprints don't stick. It's pressure-wash safe.
Saint Phalle drew inspiration for "Firebird" from southwestern native American culture, he said.
Juretko once tried to count the number of reflective tiles but gave up. He estimates there are 7,500. And they're done migrating.
"Finally," he said, "the bird has landed."
