LOVE (sculpture)

LOVE is a pop art sculpture by Robert Indiana. It is the centerpiece of LOVE Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The sculpture also appears at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Robert Indiana’s "LOVE" image takes sculptural form in numerous locations around the world, from the Indianapolis Museum of Art to Taipei 101. The inspiration for many posters, pictures, jewelry, Valentines cards, paraphernalia, and its own stamp, Indiana’s iconic “LOVE” has also spawned some unloving offshoots from album covers to “HATE" parodies. However, now outside of the museum, the sculpture signifies the new unity of art and nature that the Indianapolis Museum is trying to achieve. In its new home in the largest museum park in the United States, “LOVE” stands again as its original sculptural testament to peace in war torn times. [ [http://www.imamuseum.org/explore/integration IMA web site] ] The IMA's LOVE was created in 1970 of cor-ten steel, and was a gift to the museum from the Friends of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, in memory of Henry F. DeBoest.

Sculpture versions of the image have been installed at these American locations:
*Sixth Avenue in New York City
*E W Fairchild-Martindale Library, Lehigh University Asa Packer Campus
*Pratt Institute campus in Brooklyn, New York
*Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana
*Scottsdale's Civic Center
*"LOVE Park" in Philadelphia
*New Orleans Museum of Art's sculpture garden
*Middlebury College campus, Vermont [http://www.middlebury.edu/arts/capp/artists/indiana.htm] , [http://www.roadsideamerica.com/sights/sightstory.php?tip_AttrId=%3D11914]
*University of Pennsylvania campus, Philadelphia
*Museum of Art at Brigham Young University, Utah
*Ursinus College campus in Collegeville, Pennsylvania
*Pool area of the Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino in Las Vegas
* Wichita State University campus in Wichita, Kansas
* City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana

Outside the United States sculptural versions of Indiana's image have been installed at these locations:
*Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan (also displays Indiana's "1-0") [Publicly posted material, Floor 89, Taipei 101. 2007-08-17.]
*Shinjuku I-LAND Tower in Nishi-Shinjuku office district in Tokyo, Japan
*Orchard Road in Singapore
*Plaza del Sagrado Corazón in Bilbao, Basque Country Spain
*Outside 1445 West Georgia Street in Vancouver, Canada
*Praca do Rossio in Lisbon, Portugal
*CentralWorld in Bangkok, Thailand
*Zendai Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai,China
*Chatsworth in Derbyshire, UK, as part of the Sotheby's Beyond Limits exhibition, 2008.

Other languages:
* An Indiana sculpture showing the Hebrew word for love "(ahava)" is displayed at The Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel.
* An Indiana sculpture showing the Italian word for love "(amor)" is displayed outside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II on Piazza della Scala in Milan, Italy.

The image has been reproduced and parodied countless times in sculptures, posters, and 3-D desk ornaments. It has been rendered in Hebrew, Chinese, and Spanish. It strongly influenced the original book cover for Erich Segal's novel "Love Story". A parody appeared on a Rage Against the Machine album cover, "Renegades", as well as the cover for Oasis' single 'Little by Little' from the 2002 album "Heathen Chemistry". London artist D*Face recently parodied the image by rendering the word "hate" with the "A" tilted. Belgian artist Eddy Gabriel made a version using the word "lost". [http://witzenstein.blogspot.com/2007/07/robert-indiana-in-temple-of-doom.html] Evan Greenfield updated the sculpture with his sculpture "I'm Lovin' It". The sculpture appears in the Xbox expansion of "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2", which has a stage set in Philadelphia (mainly the LOVE Park), and it is remade as to read "THPS". The level, complete with the sculpture, is seen again in "Tony Hawk's Underground 2".

The LOVE emblem has been adopted by skateboarders and frequently appears in skateboard magazines and videos. After skateboarding was banned in Philadelphia's LOVE Park, the emblem was used by organizations opposing the ban. [ [http://www.ushistory.org/lovepark/index.htm LOVE Park, Philadelphia PA ] ]

References