J. Seward Johnson sculptures ARE PEOPLE!!!! A Chicago Survey

 Over 15 years, the sculptor J. Seward Johnson created a large number of works for Chicago, mostly temporary installations, and largely situated in Pioneer Court, the large public space between the Gothic Tribune Tower to the north, the steel-and-glass Equitable Building to the West, the Chicago River to the south (and since 2019, the Apple Store), and Michigan Avenue and the Spanish-styled terra-cotta-clad Wrigley Building to the West.

2008, King Lear, Pioneer Court. (since 2009, at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton New Jersey)

2008, God Bless America, Pioneer Court

Forever Marilyn, 2011, Pioneer Court

Caution, Man Contemplating Work, Roosevelt Collection 2012

Return Visit, 2016, Pioneer Court, here in time for Cubs World Series run

Allow Me, Four Seasons Hotel (Chicago does like to celebrate our winning teams)

Take Time Out Before Time Runs Out, Presidential Towers, 2017

Crack the Whip, Navy Pier, 1996

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Revels and Respites: A St. Patrick's Day in Chicago Journey, to the North Side and Back

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 follow the rest of the journey, after the break

Miesian Marilyn, Chicago's Plaything

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Our indefatigable correspondent Bob Johnson took the striking photograph you see above of a still unbagged Forever Marilyn, the 26th-foot-tall sculpture by J. Seward Johnson.   In this WGN piece, Bob actually appears to get the answer to the question of what keeps the soaring structure secure.  Turns out the base of the 34,000 pound sculpture itself weighs 10 tons, "engineered for a category 5 hurricane"

And speaking of hurricanes, if the intent of Forever Marilyn's promoters was to grab attention, they're already succeeding beyond their wildest dreams.  Seemingly everyone in Chicago who puts finger to keyboard has felt compelled to add their two cents, and coverage has gone viral globally, even including this story by the Chinese news agency  Xinhau depicting how Marilyn is going to be a favorite photo-op for the numerous wedding parties stopping their trolleys along the Mag Mile.

To me, what's most interesting is how the supersized human figure of Marilyn Monroe, a constant curving presence seemingly without a single right angle, plays out against the relentlessly rectilinear Miesian skyscrapers that compose her backdrop.

What will be a continuing source of fun will be watching how visitors mug, vamp, and clamber to document their own relationship with Marilyn, this one made of sterner stuff than the flesh-and-blood original who succumbed to the irreconcilable contradictions between adoration and longing,  objectification and obsession, delight, delirium and despair. Choose the pairings that fit you best.

Marilyn and Jack, together again:

. . . even as he turns his back on a distaught Kate Sullivan . . .