"The Wave," Lynda Benglis' 1984 World's Fair sculpture that sat neglected in a sewerage treatment plant in Kenner for 30 years before being discovered and restored, is now installed next to City Park's Big Lake. Gambit's cover story this week has more about the sculpture and the artist behind it.
Benglis, a Lake Charles, Louisiana native, is having a bit of a moment right now: besides her long-neglected sculpture getting a new life, she is currently the subject of an exhibition at New York's Storm King Art Center, Lynda Benglis: Water Sources.
Not only is she a fine artist, but Benglis sounds pretty hilarious, too:
In the 1970s, as she developed the series of cantilevered polyurethane foam "waves" she considers precursors to The Wave of the World, Benglis sparked contro-versy with an advertisement in the November 1974 issue of Artforum. The two-page spread, for which Benglis paid $3,000, featured the artist wearing only a pair of sunglasses, posing with a massive dildo. · New Orleans City Park does The Wave [Gambit]
· Neglected World's Fair Sculpture to Have Home in City Park [Curbed NOLA]