Curious snowmen hit the slopes of Aspen
The Los Angeles Times
Hard-core snowboarders and skiers in Aspen might get surly when it rains, but Mark Grotjahn's newest sculptures, which are sharing their slopes, seem content in any weather. They are boxy, cheery, colorfully painted bronze heads with cut-out eyes that look like they were based on cardboard sculptures made by a kid. In fact, they were based on cardboard sculptures made by an acclaimed L.A. artist.
Grotjahn first showed his primitive cardboard sculptures in a group show, "Painting in Tongues," at L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art in 2006. Now his painted bronze versions have made their debut in Colorado: Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk each feature one sculpture, with the fifth located nearby at the Aspen Art Museum, where a survey of Grotjahn's work opened Monday.
"I think it's great," said Grotjahn, 43, who grew up in the Bay Area skiing Squaw Valley before he freestyled his way through the University of Colorado in Boulder. "I love the idea of snow on their noses. I want my work to be around snow, I always want to be around snow personally. Snow makes me happy."
Read more about Grotjahn's snowmen at the LA Times Culture Monster blog.
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