About the artwork
Lonnie Holley
Beneath the Water, 2017
Dimensions(h x w x d): 90" x 35" x 30"
Steel
Located in Vanport Building, first floor lobby
About the artist
Lonnie Holley was born in 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama. From the age of five, Holley worked various jobs before making his first artwork at the at the age of 29. Since 1979, Holley has devoted his life to the practice of improvisational creativity. His art and music, born out of hardship, but more importantly, out of furious curiosity and biological necessity, has manifested itself in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, performance, and sound. Holley’s sculptures are constructed from found materials in the oldest tradition of African American sculpture. Objects, already imbued with cultural and artistic metaphor, are combined into narrative sculptures that commemorate places, people, and events. Holley's work is represented in collections of major museums throughout the country, on permanent display in the United Nations, and has been displayed in the White House Rose Garden. In January of 2014, Holley completed a one-month residency with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in Captiva Island, Florida, site of the acclaimed artist’s studio.
See more of Lonnie Holley's work on his website.
These works were acquired through Oregon's Percent for Art in Public Places Program, managed by the Oregon Arts Commission.
Banner image: Photo by Sarah Kenney.