TONY TASSET

(AMERICAN, BORN 1960)

Eye, 2007
fiberglass, resin, oil paint, steel
452 inches circumference
Laumeier Sculpture Park Commission, with funds from the Mark Twain Laumeier Endowment Fund

Through this gigantic, blue eyeball, Tasset creates tension as the sculpture stares—larger than life—across the landscape and back at the viewer. Modeled after Tasset’s own eye, the never- blinking, constantly conscious piece watches over Laumeier day and night. The human eye is simultaneously unique, individual and emblematic; by focusing on a key part of the body, Tasset speaks to a commonality among us, addressing how we engage and perceive each other while concurrently asserting a prophetic, perhaps even omniscient, presence.

Sculpture Interaction Guideline: Look, But Do Not Touch

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Tony Tasset was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1960. He received his B.F.A. at the Art Academy of Cincinnati in 1983 and his M.F.A. at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1985. Tasset works with video, photography, bronze, wax, fiberglass, film and even taxidermy. His work employs wisdom and wit and continuously contends with the trappings of Modernism, Postmodern theory, pop culture and the universal human emotions associated with love, loss, frailty and beauty. Tasset's work is in the permanent collections of prestigious museums including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Museum Für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, among others. He has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world, including Canada, Ecuador, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. Laumeier presented a solo Tasset exhibition in 2007 entitled Tony Tasset: All Things Must Pass.