Works of Art at 1s1: Jennffer Bartlett's " in the Garden " and " Interpenetrtsdona "

Within the past year-and-a-half, severSI works of art have been commissioned, executed, and instafled at ISI@’s corp~ rate headquarters in Philadelphia. These have included “The Cathedraf of Man,” a 310-square foot (27.9 sq. m.) mural by Guillermo Wagner Granizo; 1 “Communication, ” an 8’6” x 30’ (259.08cm x 914.4cm) sgrafitto mural by Joseph Slawintil; 1 and “The History, Gods, Myths, Rituals, and Future of the Huichol Indians, ” an 8’ x 12’ (243.84cm x 365.76cm) yarn painting by Emeteria Martinez Rios.2 The original stimulus for the creation of these works was a regulation by the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. It requires that a mtilmum of one percent of the construction budget of a new building be devoted to publicly accessible art. We at 1S1 were so enthusiastic about this idea that we decided to go beyond a strict, letter-of-the-law compliance with the Authority’s dmective. For example, the three works I have just mentioned were “optional,” in the sense that 1S1 did not submit any of them to the Authority as fulfiient of their requirement. Instead, we commissioned them simply because we felt that each artist, in his or her own style, could make a unique and significant contribution toward enhancing our work environment. In this essay, I would like to focus attention on another such “optional” work—” Interpenetrations,” a 4’ x 12’ (121 .92cm x 365.76cm) oif painting by Welsh artist Handel Evans. I wilf also discuss the 9’8’ x 32’6’ (294.64cm x 990.6cm) mural, “In the Garden,” by New York-based artist Jennifer Bartlett, Installed in ISI’S main lobby on April 13, 1981, this mural is the work we commissioned to discharge our legal obligation to the Redevelopment Authority. Corporate interest in-and the purchase of-original artwork has been on the increase in the last two decades, according to Mary Anne Craft, a lecturer in art history, Frick Museum, Phtsburgh, and a research librarian specializing in pictorial materials. In a recent article appearing in Business Hon”zons, she listed a number of factors influencing the acquisition of art by business, including: the desire to decorate or refurbish new or existing company facilities, an interest in art as an investment, continuing a personal collection started by the company’s founder, altruistic sup port of the arts, and a desire to foster good public relations by presenting the viewer with an image of the company as forward-looking and progressives Some or all of these motivations may be true of any of the various corporations now involved in collecting or sponsoring artwork. In IS1’s case, we were interested in art primarily as a vital, integral part of our environment. ISI’S corporate art has stimulated the ex-