‘Walking With Giants’ exhibition to bring larger-than-life art to COD campus
Naperville artist Rich Lo was hard at work Thursday, painting one of 10 larger-than-life silhouette sculptures at the College of DuPage.
The painted silhouette sculptures will be part of an upcoming “Walking With Giants” exhibition that the McAninch Arts Center and the Cleve Carney Museum of Art will present in honor of the United States’ 250th anniversary.
Opening June 3 and continuing through Oct. 18, the free exhibition will feature the painted silhouette sculptures, each approximately 10 feet tall.
The pieces will be along a walkable route surrounding the MAC on the College of DuPage campus in Glen Ellyn. Each sculpture will depict influential American artists, representing visual art, music, theater and dance.
“I’d love my artwork to resonate with the viewers, and if they would stop for an extra few seconds to experience it, I’ve done my job,” Lo said.
Lo, a professional artist who grew up in Chicago’s Chinatown and now lives in Naperville, talked about his transition from studio art to public art following a fire in his studio a decade ago.
He also emphasized the importance of evolving as an artist and the role of public art in his career. Lo said that he aims to inspire creativity in everyday life through his work.
The ideas for the sculptures in the “Walking With Giants” exhibition were developed with community input. They will honor influential American figures in visual art, music, theater, and dance, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dolly Parton and Lin-Manuel Miranda, among others.
While working on one of her paintings on Thursday, Judith Mayer, an illustrator and designer from Chicago, expressed excitement for the current project at COD.
“This is a really neat format that I haven’t painted on before,” Mayer said.
Mayer’s passion for art began in kindergarten and has been a constant in her life.
She said she uses bright colors in her work to evoke joy and has found that her art often sparks conversations and educates people about historical figures, including Aretha Franklin and Harold Washington.
“I think people see it and they get a sense of the joy from the brightness and the sort of vibrance of what I’m painting,” Mayer said. “I hope that it adds some happiness.”