Beyond First Impressions

Mark di Suvero was born in China in 1933 to Italian parents who were serving as diplomats in Shanghai. He vividly recalls visiting the Forbidden City, the Imperial Palace complex located in the heart of Beijing, and marveling at the experience of space as at once infinite and comprehensible. When he was seven years old, di Suvero’s family moved to San Francisco where he dropped out of high school to explore the United States. After studying art at the University of California at Berkeley, di Suvero moved to New York in 1956 and did construction work to support himself while working on his art. Di Suvero started off creating sculptures out of wooden beams, metal pipes, old tires, and other discarded items. His materials would soon grow to I-beams, like those used in Lao Tzu, which are made of steel and typically used for support in houses.

In 1960, di Suvero was forced to quit his construction job after an on-site accident crushed his pelvis. This didn’t stop him from creating art, however. After using a wheelchair for the next decade, he began walking again with braces and crutches. Despite his limited mobility and the industrial qualities of his sculptures, di Suvero performs most of the work himself. “I do most of the cutting, welding, and crane work,” he says. The artist uses his crutch, several cranes, a cherry picker, and welding equipment that he operates himself to bring the sketches of his artworks to life.

Di Suvero moves directly from drawings of his ideas to the actual realization of his sculptures, with no three-dimensional models in between. “If it works in space on paper, it’ll work with I-beams,” he says. In fact, some have likened his sculptures, with their strong diagonal lines and looping forms, to drawings or “doodles” brought to life in space. Even though this sculpture is nearly 30 feet high, 36 feet long, and weighs 16.5 tons, di Suvero insists he does not make “monumental sculpture.” Instead, he aims to create sculptures that will activate the spaces, the structures, and the people around them. Di Suvero attempts to engage viewers with his sculptures, saying, “I believe that certain structures have a certain resonance for people.” Sonnet Hanson, DAM Master Teacher for Modern and Contemporary Art, describes Lao Tzu as “a jungle gym for the imagination—both for di Suvero, who animates space through strong but playful lines, and for viewers, who can make their own associations with the shapes, colors, line, weight of the sculpture and the space that it animates.”

Di Suvero names his sculptures after things he cares deeply about, drawing from his studies and interests in philosophy, poetry, music, dance, science, and art history. Some of his titles acknowledge people who inspire him, like Mother Theresa and jazz musician Charlie Parker. He named this sculpture after Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher from the 6th century BC whose writings are the foundation of Taoism (a centuries-old tradition that bases human experience on nature, vitality, and peace). But di Suvero is cautious about assigning specific meaning to his sculptures. “I try to keep them abstract,” he says. “The titles are just a handle.”