In Irons

Guy Dill

Guy Dill’s In Irons is characterized by the use of opaque and transparent elements which operate as a system of visual opposites. In Irons is an abstract form positioned “dead to the winds” at the highest windswept point of the campus. The sweeping curve of steel, intersected by the rectilinear sheet of glass (both anchored by cast concrete posts) renders aspects of the work alternately visible and invisible, marking its presence as both physical and illusionary. As one element absorbs light, the other transmits and refracts it, thereby establishing a continuously fluctuating presence.

Born in 1946 in Duval County, Florida, Guy Dill studied at the Chouinard School of Art, Los Angeles and graduated with a B.F.A. in 1970. Today, he is based in Los Angeles, and is best known for his architectonic sculptural works. Dill has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s Theodoron Award (1972), the National Endowment for the Arts individual artist fellowship (1974), and the Stars of Design Lifetime Achievement for Art Award from the Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles (2000). His work resides in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena; the M. H. DeYoung Museum, San Francisco; the University Art Museum at California State University, Long Beach; and several other institutions.