Pritchard Park recently installed a new public art piece, the “Deco Gecko,” and it seems like a timely starting point for discussion on this work we’ll all be living with for some time. Do you like it? Hate it? Here’s the place to state your case.

In the event you’re unfamiliar with the new sculpture, I’ve the link to the original Xpress story is below (well worth checking out for the audio slideshow), and the text of the story has been quoted.

http://www.mountainx.com/news/2008/the_lizard_has_landed

The lizard has landed
by Kent Priestley on 03/05/2008

Shortly after 9 a.m. this morning, a crane lowered Asheville sculptor Harry McDaniel’s sculpture “Deco Gecko” into place at the western edge of Pritchard Park, downtown.

The brushed-aluminum sculpture stands 12 feet tall and echoes Art Deco design elements found in downtown Asheville, notably those along the façade of the S&W;Cafeteria Building, which faces Pritchard Park.

In late 2007, McDaniel won the city’s first-ever distinction of Public Artist of the Year (scroll down to “Eye of the Beholder"), a title bestowed by Asheville’s Public Art Program as a way of commissioning new art for public spaces. The program, sponsored through a bequest by the Harry F. and Elaine Chaddick Foundation, afforded McDaniel a $10,000 stipend to complete the work.

I’ll start off here by saying that I’m ambivalent about the “Deco Gecko.” A giant lizard, a stalk of wheat and a stylized skyscraper doesn’t exactly scream “Asheville!” to me, and I’m not much of a fan of the use brushed aluminum, as it looks a little cheap when compared to the bronze works on the rest of the Urban Trail. That said, from a design perspective, it’s not a bad piece at all, and would be fitting in, say, the lobby of a Geico Insurance regional headquarters in Wichita, Kansas.

And, as another staffer pointed out, “Why a gecko?” Just as a play on art deco? Seems like a stretch.

But that’s just one person’s opinion. What’s yours?

I don’t mind it, but it doesn’t move me or anything.  Like most office park art, it’s more designed to timidly blend into the background than it is to make any sort of statement. 

Then again, I’m a 27-year-old fuddy duddy who prefers art with identifiable subjects, such as the Appalachian Stage installation in front of the Civic Center.  This probably makes me hopelessly bourgeoise, totally unable to appreciate the genius of modern art, a member of the unwashed and a constant thorn in the paw of true artists everywhere, or something.

I agree the gecko is an odd and out of place choice. But to be fair, there really aren’t that many things that rhyme with the word, “deco” and an echo is just too difficult to portray in a sculpture.

Looks like the twisted metal of a horrendous car wreck to me.

hauntedheadnc - 06 March 2008 11:21 AM

I don’t mind it, but it doesn’t move me or anything.  Like most office park art, it’s more designed to timidly blend into the background than it is to make any sort of statement. 

I’m with hauntedheadnc and Steve.  It doesn’t do much for me, but all art doesn’t have to scream in some sort of obvious state - i’m sure there’s plenty of art i don’t get, but i don’t think it’s bad, it just seems timid for the spot it’s in.