Urban Francis

The other-worldly, cast bronze, "Urban Francis" meets in-the-flesh "Suburban Frances." Actually, the woman is an anonymous art patron. She is reading the plaque about Judith Shea's bronze cast piece installed behind the Weatherspoon Art Museum, located on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The inscription tells that the sculpture, edition 3 of 3, was made between 2000-2002 and that it was purchased through funds from the following sources: Lea Tannenbaum, the Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation, the Burlington Industries Endowment and the Weatherspoon Art Museum Acquisition Endowment. Urban Francis is a fine example of what collaborative effort can bring to a community. True to her fashion-designer roots, Shea's bronze pieces often are clothes-only (see here), leaving the human figure to the imagination. Greensboro's Shea, Urban Francis, is a human form with a hauntingly pensive look.

According to an article, by Martin Friedman, in Sculpture magazine, Urban Francis is St. Francis (of Assisi) and "he was the first of Shea's depictions of well-known saints in the guise of ordinary people" (well worth reading Friedman's article, here).  Stop by Greensboro Daily Photo tomorrow if you want to see a close-up of the statue's face-- tilting heavenward.

This is our contribution to Skywatch Friday.  If you want to see the sky over Greensboro from the past year, peruse previous posts here.

Comments

[Jane Mitchell]

I hope he stays there to greet those of us who enter by the back doorway. He's taller and thinner than his counterpart in Assisi. And where are the friendly pigeons?

[Demcy Dias]

very interesting...thanks for sharing!
Please check out my Skywatch entry as well. Thanks!

[Manang Kim]

This is a very nice photo. I so thought that the woman bowing is also a statue,lol! Great shot!
Sky Watch Friday

[Jack]

Nicely done. The statue and its observer are perfectly captured here.