The has been, for the month of April, the last stop for Redding artist James Grashow's Corrugated Fountain, "a monumental cardboard sculpture inspired by Bernini's famous Trevi Fountain in Rome," according to museum officials.
The project, which has been travelling since its completion in 2007, has its final viewing at the Aldrich until May 13.
The end of its run is bittersweet for Grashow, who believes that the end of something is just as important as its existence in the first place.
Grashow believes that “creation and destruction are married to each other,” so the work has been installed outdoors on the Aldrich’s front terrace to weather and disintegrate slowly over time.
"Grashow is acutely aware that nothing, not even an artwork, is eternal," according to an Aldrich press release. "Working with the most ephemeral of materials to create the grandest of artworks, he celebrates the grandeur of human endeavor while reminding us of the humility of our best efforts."
The Aldrich has close ties to Grashow's work.
“We are excited that the fountain will take its last bow at The Aldrich," museum exhibitions director Richard Klein said. "This will be Jimmy’s fourth solo exhibition at the Museum over a thirty year period, making him and his work truly integral to our history.”
James Grashow was born in Brooklyn in 1942 and has been creating works that address themes of man, nature, and mortality since the 1960s. The scale of his work ranges from large environmental installations, through which the viewer traverses, to the delicate and contained world of his houseplants, where homes and buildings replace flowers and buds in intricately constructed bouquets. Grashow is also an acclaimed woodcut artist, according to the museum.
His prints have appeared regularly in The New York Times and in virtually every well-known periodical and publication throughout the country.
