When not protesting the war in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969, artist Mark diSuvero spent much of his time crafting a monumental tribute to jazz great Billie Holiday outside Governors State University in University Park.
An abstract expressionist sculptor and 2010 National Medal of Arts recipient, diSuvero is best known for his gigantic metal creations. He used steel I-beams, cables and a railroad tank car to craft his monumental tribute called “Yes! For Lady Day,” echoing the nickname by which Holiday was known in jazz circles. Ironically, Holiday may be best known today as co-author of the song, “God bless the child,” made popular by a jazz-pop band.
On Friday GSU will honor both diSuvero and Holiday with a “Happy Birthday Billie!” theme as part of the free jazz centennial celebration presented by the Southland Arts, Municipalities, and Business Alliance, which is part of the Chicago Southland’s “Let Them Eat Jazz” Festival.
Holiday, whose real name was Eleanora Fagan, would have turned 102 Friday. She died in 1959 at age 44. Jazz critics place her importance as second only to that of Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. Her autobiography, “Lady Sings the Blues,” was made into a motion picture starring Diana Ross.
Art and sculpture critics recognize diSuvero, 83, as one of the most important sculptors to emerge from the late 20th century and into the 21st. He is the subject of the 1977 documentary, “North Star: Mark diSuvero” produced by Francois de Menil and Barbara Rose.
DiSuvero, a former crane operator, crafted “Yes! For Lady Day” using 30-foot-tall, steel I-beams supporting two halves of a railroad tank car, with the tank car sections suspended from the I-beam frame by steel cables.
He commented on the piece in a 2005 interview in Sculpture magazine: “When you cut a cylinder at an angle other than 90 degrees to its axis, you end up with an ellipse. It has an elliptical cut that moves, so that the viewer can get inside the piece and see the world framed in a moving ellipse.
“What is so stark about the piece is that there is all of the work that happened with riveting — that was a special way of joining steel before welding was invented.”
Dennis Sullivan is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Friday’s schedule of events
10:45 – 11:15 a.m.: Introductory Walk to Yes! for Lady Day, led by Park Director Geoff Bates.
Viewers can enter the 35′ x 54′ x 40′ piece – one of the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park’s most important – and hear changing sounds made by the wind.
11:15 – 11:45 a.m.: Preview screening – Searching for Lady Day: A Portrait in Steel (Engbretson Hall) is a documentary video interview with sculptor Mark diSuvero produced by the NMSP and GSU’s Digital Learning and Media Design Department.
11:45 – Noon: Q&A with Director and Producer Geoff Bates
Noon – 12:30 p.m.: Happy Birthday Billie! Birthday cake in the Hall of Governors
12:30 – 2:15 p.m.: Film screening: Lady Sings the Blues (Engbretson Hall)
2:15 – 2:35 p.m.: Q & A about Lady Sings the Blues with Suzanne Patterson, Community Education Coordinator for GSU’s The Knowledge Exchange and film expert.
3 p.m.: Sculpture for a New Town – Presentation by Amanda Douberly addressing the significance of Yes! for Lady Day in the development of the Village of Park Forest South (now University Park).
More Top Picks Best Snow Blowers For Driveways
3:45 – 4:15 p.m. Capstone Walk to Yes! For Lady Day led by Park Director Geoff Bates and Amanda Douberly for a final look at the end of the day.