2014

World-renowned American artist, Seward Johnson recreates life in vividly realistic bronze. With more than 350 of his bronze figures featured in private collections and museums in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia, Johnson is well-known for the many sculptures located in public places, including Rockefeller Center, Pacific Place, Hong Kong, Les Halles in Paris, and Via Condotti in Rome. These sculptures depict people engaged in everyday activities. This "Celebrating the Familiar" sculpture series has brought a unique voice to the world of public art, encouraging conversation and turning heads wherever they appear. In the artists’ words, "What I’m trying to do is draw attention to the simple pleasures, to show how much fun life is. That’s why there are so many humorous details in my work." My Dog Has Fleas, a sardonic look at a folk singer, is a life-size bronze sculpture cast by Seward Johnson in 1996.

"Turn of the Century," a bronze sculpture of two dancers located in the East Gallery of the Seward Johnson Center for Arts, was cast by Seward Johnson based on Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s 1883 oil painting, Bal à Bougival (The Ball at Bougival). It is one of Seward’s three dancing couples inspired by Renoir’s well known series. The title is a nod to the viewer’s ability to take in a full circle view of the dancer’s spin. It is one of Seward’s three dancing couples inspired by Renoir’s well known series.

"Los Mariachis" is a pair of life-sized bronze sculptures depicting mariachi guitarists. It was cast by Seward Johnson.

"Turn of the Century," a bronze sculpture of two dancers located in the East Gallery of the Seward Johnson Center for Arts, was cast by Seward Johnson based on Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s 1883 oil painting, Bal à Bougival (The Ball at Bougival). It is one of Seward’s three dancing couples inspired by Renoir’s well known series. The title is a nod to the viewer’s ability to take in a full circle view of the dancer’s spin. It is one of Seward’s three dancing couples inspired by Renoir’s well known series.

"Time for Fun," a bronze sculpture of two dancers located in the East Gallery of the Seward Johnson Center for Arts, was cast by Seward Johnson based on Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s 1883 oil painting, Danse à la campagne (Dance in the Country) (original at Musée d’Orsay). It is one of Seward’s three dancing couples inspired by Renoir’s well known series.

"Aftermath," located in the East Gallery at the Seward Johnson Center for the Arts, is a life-size bronze sculpture of a janitor sweeping the floor. It was cast by Seward Johnson in 2001.

"Ambassador of the Streets," a life-scale bronze sculpture of a woman wearing a red business suit walking her dog, was cast by Seward Johnson in 1993.

"Swiatowid" is inspired by ancient European art and legends, which are particularly fascinating to Pitynski. Swiatowid was a pagan god of the sun worshipped in pre-Christian Europe. The sun deity, lord of war, peace, and prosperity was represented with four faces. It was believed that every day, Swiatowid with his long sword in one hand and drinking horn in the other, rode his white horse across the sky from East to West. For Pitynski, his Swiatowid is a bridge between the deep past, the present, and the future. Although representing an ancient legend, the whole composition in the form of a space ship ready to launch in the conquest of outer space. The top of the monument is in the form of a head with a helmet carrying the 14 stars of the European Union. The head has four faces, but each represents a different aspect of the one sun god. The youngest face is toward the East, and the oldest towards the North. The Eastern face has attributes of the god Lada – lord of love, life, and happiness. The Southern face represents Swarog – controller of the sun, the stars and the whole solar system. The face to the West is Mokusz – god of prosperity, banquets and feasting, dance, music and art. Finally, the Northern face is Perun – god of war, of thunder and lightning, and of natural catastrophes. Beneath each of the faces are three reliefs. These portray life, love, war, the passage of time, solar symbols and an image of Swiatowid on his horse amongst the stars and planets. Four monumental knights standing 13.5 feet high surround the base of the column. These are the legendary ancestors of the European people. Facing East stands the Amazon, Wanda, queen of the Scythians and Sarmatians. Facing South is Boleslaw the Great, the first Christian king of Poland bearing the spear of St. Moritz which was given to him by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III. Looking West is Crak, the legendary king of the Sarmatians. Facing North is the first Christian Viking king, Canute the Great, who became king of England, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. He was the nephew of the Polish King Boleslaw the Great, as his mother, Brunhilda, was the sister of Boleslaw the Great and the daughter of the Polish Prince Mieszko I who Christianized Poland in the year 966. Pitynski has said: "It was always my dream to create Swiatowid to bring him back from the time before Christ to the twentieth century A.D. and to see him standing in all his glory, a representation of proud legends, giving honor and respect to Europe’s deep pagan roots from which grew the beauty of European culture and art. … This monument is my message to humanity: there is only one way to survive – to conquer space, to find a new galaxy, a new star, which will be our new sun and our new god."