Jun 28, 2017 Art & Collection Tony TassetDeer, 2015Fiberglass, epoxy, and paint144 in. × 20ft. × 96 in. (365.8 × 609.6 × 243.8 cm)Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Image courtesy of the Artist and Kavi Gupta, Photo: Tim Johnson An enormous white tail deer, sculpted of painted fiberglass, recently appeared on the Riverwalk in Chicago, Illinois. The sculpture, appropriately titled Deer, was created by artist Tony Tasset in 2015, and was acquired by Crystal Bridges this year following its appearance at the Art Basel Miami Beach, art fair. The work is on loan from Crystal Bridges to the city of Chicago through October. It will be installed on our museum grounds sometime next year. Tony Tasset, a University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has worked in a variety of styles and mediums, including film, sculpture, photography, and video. Lately he has created a number of large-scale, hyper-realistic permanent outdoor sculptures, including a three-story fiberglass eyeball, which is installed in downtown Dallas, Texas. “I make work that tries to sort of connect with something really, really familiar,” he said in a 2013 interview. “I think it puts the viewer on guard in a lot of ways. They’re not sure how to take this.” Although live deer are a common sight along Crystal Bridges’ trails, this one is sure to garner extra attention: at 12 feet tall and 20 feet long, it will be hard to miss on the forested grounds.
