ANBI
1132
Street Art
Street Art piece
Hello
Street Art Museum Amsterdam
Author:
SpenserLittle
Artist Bio:
California-based artist Spenser Little is a self-taught artist who has been bending wire for the last 15 years, allowing his creativity to morph into images that range from simple wordplay to complex portraits. He has related his wire work to a mixture of playing chess and illustration, as the problem-solving component of the work is what continues to inspire himself to create larger and more complex pieces. Some works contain moving components and multiple wires, but mostly the pieces are formed from one continuous piece of wire that is bent and molded to Little’s will.
Place:
Immanuel Kanthof
Date:
2018
Technique:
Textil Art
Material:
Wire
Acquisition:
Commission
Completed:
2018
Condition:
Good / Legible
Physical Description:
Spenser Little has spent the past 15 years creating sculptures by bending and cutting wire into figurative portraits and phrases. His lightweight pieces have been installed on lamp posts and other existing structures around the world and have also been exhibited in numerous gallery shows. The artist bends the rigid material using a pair of needle-nose pliers until it fits the image of his subject or his imagination. The work ranges from playful figures that interact with their surroundings to pointed commentaries on an internet and tech-obsessed society. Collectors encounter the sculptures framed and presented in a gallery setting, while others wire portraits have been left behind for pedestrians and explorers to find deep in caves and high above the streets.
As in the case of Sandrine Boulet, Spenser's work only exists to the point where it is observed and discovered by the viewer. They are often small works, located in places that are difficult to access. They dialogue freely with the space that surrounds them, creating a synchrony with the objects of reality and giving rise to hidden narratives, whose meaning changes depending on the position from which they are viewed. This is an artist who does not use the typical tools and techniques of traditional urban art in his works but who adapts certain three-dimensional materials to the urban context, like so many other artists in our collection: Sandrine Boulet, Daniela Frongia, etc.
Iconography:
The works created for SAMA are three-dimensional and play with the aesthetics of the city and its landscapes to create little joys of everyday beauty within the city. For SAMA he has created a series of portraits through wire-graffiti: Littles work which consists of artfully bent wire interventionism distinguishable for their intricate blend of images and text based on one continuous wire 'stroke,' not entirely dissimilar from Suso33's infamous 'one line' technique.
His works have all been donated to the museum and their presence is protected and legal under Dutch law: two public female portraits and a male portrait kept inside the Gallery with the inscription "Introspection can be painful". "Hello" is the author's most famous work in our collection: it depicts a female face with an outstretched arm in greeting on a street lamp. The work echoes here the poetics of discovery, it exists only when we are aware of it and once observed it addresses us a cordial greeting to thank us for our gaze, thus creating an intimate and bivalent relationship between work and viewer.
Gallery
