Cilindro Construito

San Francisco International Airport
Terminal 2
Baggage Claim Level 1

Cilindro Construito by Arnaldo Pomodoro
1983. Cast bronze, 192 in. x 18 in

Aside from the great exhibits put on by the SFO Museum, there is a considerable collection of art that is owned by the San Francisco Arts Commission at the airport.  I have often had a problem with this, as by definition of public art, this is not.  Most pieces are behind the walls of TSA, which by itself is the antitheses of Public.  However, I am aware that much of the art was placed there before we had TSA, and that much of the new work going in, is in an area that is accessible to the general public.

While not perfect, you now can view the pieces on-line.

After a delightful afternoon strolling the airport viewing the SFO Museum pieces (funded by airport taxes, so a completely different animal), I decided to take in as many pieces as possible of SFAC art that I could find.

Arnaldo Pomodoro was originally trained as an engineer. This slender column, with its strong architectural form and its precisely crafted, multi-faceted surface, clearly reflects Pomodoro’s early background as an engineer and a jewelry maker.

Born in Morciano, Romagna, Italy, June 23, 1926, Pomodoro currently lives and works in Milan.

Pomodoro is probably best known for his  “Sphere Within Sphere” (Sfera con Sfera).  Sfera con Sfera is probably one of my favorite pieces of bronze monumental sculpture.  The piece, recast many times, can be seen in the Vatican Museums, Trinity College, Dublin, the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, American Republic Insurance Company in Des Moines, Iowa, the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio, the University of California, Berkeley and the Tel Aviv University, Israel.