Artist Nancy Rubins’s latest sculpture, Monochrome for Austin (2015) is currently situated at Landmarks, the public art program of the University of Texas at Austin. Monochrome is a dazzling, large-scale assemblage made from 70 aluminum canoes and small boats.

In this GalleryLOG video, brought to you in association with artnet, Rubins discusses the inspiration and method by which she creates her larger-than-life structures. This one stands 50 feet tall and is the largest sculpture in the Landmarks collection to date. This project also represents the first large-scale sculpture commissioned by a female artist for the Austin campus.

The project is funded through the Art in Public Spaces policy, which designates one to two percent of new construction and major renovation funds toward public art through the Capital Improvement Fund.

Nancy Rubins, Monochrome for Austin (2015).
Image: Courtesy of Landmarks at the University of Texas, Austin.

Landmarks director Andrée Bober calls it “an instant icon for Texas,” saying, “I hope it inspires all who appreciate beauty and wit.”

Since the 1970s, Rubins has been transforming everyday materials and manufactured objects into dramatic works of art. Her work extends and challenges the tradition of modernist sculpture, experimenting with the interplay of gravity, balance, form, and beauty.

The sculpture is on permanent view at the Norman Hackerman Building at the University of Texas at Austin.

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