Colossal Canvas | Three Sunflowers In A Vase On a large easel |
G
oodland is 17 miles from the Colorado state line in northwest Kansas. With a population of 2000, this agricultural community doesn't really amount to much. But it does have this giant 24 by 32 foot replica of a Vincent van Gogh painting on an 80 foot steel easel. Commissioned by the trade group Sunflowers USA at a cost of $150K, the sculpture was designed and built by Canadian artist Cameron Cross in 2001. His idea is to place a series of seven “Big Easel” sculptures based on Vincent's sunflower paintings in locations all over the world. So far three have been built, the others being in Altona, Manitoba and in Emerald, Australia.
We arrived in Goodland late in the day and went directly to the small parking lot in front of the sculpture. The painting faces south, so the light was not actually optimal for an effective photograph. But we noticed a large spotlight that was positioned to illuminate the thing at night. We went back up the road and checked in the Americas Best Value Inn where we somehow received the special coupon rate without possessing a coupon. By now the sun was setting and as twilight progressed we rushed back to the sculpture. Screeching to an attack stop on the loose gravel, tripods and cameras quickly deployed to capture this radiation balance - an interpretation of an interpretation of an interpretation of reality.
“Art is not meant to be pretty; art is meant to change the world...” - Cameron Cross
