When Abstraction Becomes Monumental

Author: Layne Shaffer

Three metal sculptures in white, red and blue, stand on a concrete dais. Three people stand looking at the art

Who is Jack Youngerman? Who is David Von Schlegell? These were the simple – yet important– questions posed at the beginning of my research. Standing in front of the fourteen public sculptures acquired for the sculpture park at Hartwood Acres, one can only speculate: what do these sculptures mean? I had the opportunity this semester to work on a team with Pittsburgh’s Office for Public Art Education and Outreach Program Manager Rachel Klipa and Professor Alex Taylor. Over the past few months, our team has conducted research on the sculptures and artists at hand to eventually develop their interpretive material.

Jack Youngerman’s sculpture grove Totem, Lamina, and Limbus, 1979 (pictured above) invites the viewer in, creating a cohesive work that resembles paper cutouts. Scratch that. Maybe these three works resemble flowers? Though that may be the common reception of Youngerman’s works, the forms in his paintings and sculptures were instead derived as abstractions of shapes found in nature. A prolific painter, the sculpture at Hartwood Acres looks as though Youngerman’s paintings have sprung from the canvas home and found a new one against the greenery.

Like Youngerman and many of the other sculptors featured in this collection, David Von Schlegell served in the military, his technical mastery in steel deriving from his time served. His work North Light, 1982, would have first been found in downtown Pittsburgh. Now, it can be seen immediately upon arrival at the site, shining white against its colorful background. Driving up the road to the grounds of Hartwood Acres, North Light echoes its original placement downtown as it seemingly curves above and over the road below.

Though only a fragment of our research, these are the stories my team and I have researched to be able to share with you. They are stories not only of sculptures but of Pittsburgh. Many of these sculptures and the city they reside in share a common theme: the use of steel that built them both from the ground up. These larger-than-life-sized abstract public sculptures hold their own space, jutting every which way among the background of the beautiful grounds of the space. But often, the question still remains: what does it mean? An abstract work of public art can be brought to life given the context and questions we aim to provide the visitors, so they too can hold the appreciation I have found for these sculptures by learning their stories.

Layne Shaffer, Museum Studies Intern at the Office for Public Art – Spring 2023

Constellations Group