Green Lightning (sculpture)
Green Lightning | |
---|---|
Artist | Billie Lawless |
Year | November 1984 |
Location | Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
Green Lightning is a sculpture created by artist
Description
The work features 13 lightning bolts ranging in height from 13 to 30 feet (4.0 to 9.1 m) shooting into the ground over a 180-by-160-foot (55 by 49 m) area. On a main sign-like structure were four boxes measuring 8 by 10 by 2 feet (2.44 m × 3.05 m × 0.61 m) with images silk-screened on the back dealing with contemporary social issues. In front of these images and protected by clear
History
The sculpture was built in Buffalo, New York, over a period of two years and dedicated in November 1984. Construction of the work on its site started on October 6, and it was completed and lit on November 15.
Some city officials found the work to be offensive, and Mayor
Lawless later obtained a court order by New York State Supreme Court Justice, Vincent Doyle, who issued an injunction and publicly denounced the actions of the Mayor in a hearing the following day. Lawless sued, claiming that his rights were being infringed; the city contended that the sculpture, as erected, was not representative of the model they had been presented with. Billie Lawless won the lawsuit but was awarded no damages.
The sculpture was eventually removed from Buffalo and relocated to Chicago at Sculpture Chicago '85,[2] where it stood unmolested for ten years.
It is currently in storage in
Years later in a 2014 interview, when Lawless was asked if he would bring the Green Lightning sculpture back to Buffalo, he replied "Any time".[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Where are they now? Looking up Billie Lawless, Jim Lorentz, Semyon Bychkov and more". The Buffalo News. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "Green Lightning' Strikes Chicago as Unobjectionable". The Buffalo News. 1985-10-08.