THE BATCOLUMN SCULPTURE by Swedish-American Pop Artist Claes Oldenburg.
Dedicated in 1977..it is a 101-foot-tall outdoor sculpture built in Mr. Oldenburg's style of replicating everyday objects into Colossal and Gigantic sculptural replications.
How fitting that we recognize this piece "The Batcolumn" since the Chicago Cubs won the World Series in Baseball recently and on any game day...you will see suburbanites parking downtown and taking the L to the Stadium decked out in their "Cubs" Gear!
Other Sculptural works of GIANT proportion by Claes Oldenburg in the United States include:
1. The Gigantic Clothespin, The Paint Brush and 3 Way Plug in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2. The Colossal Cherry on a Spoon in Minneapolis, Minnesota
3. Giant Shuttlecock in Kansas City, Missouri
4. Giant Binoculars in Venice, California
5. The Big Sweep (Dustpan and Brush) in Denver, Colorado
6. Giant Rubber Stamps stating "FREE" in Cleveland, Ohio
FYI-Mr. Oldenburg was born in Sweden, but moved to Chicago and became an American Citizen in 1956...he spent his life in Chicago being educated at an early age as his father was a Swedish Diplomat stationed in New York City and later in 1936 appointed the Consul General of Sweden to Chicago, Illinois. See:
Wikipedia...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claes_Oldenburg
See this for a picture of Claes Oldenburg in 1977 as the Giant "Batcolumn Sculpture" is preparing for installation:
https://charlesosgood.photoshelter.com/image/I0000A1gvwNpRcz0
"One Very Big Bat" article by Rick Kogan in the "Chicago Tribune" (1999).
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-03-14/features/9903140489_1_art-institute-sculpture-city-news-bureau
For an article with pictures see"Claes Oldenburg's Supersize Pop Art Sculptures Made Public Art Fun" By Abigail Cain.
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-claes-oldenburgs-supersized-pop-sculptures-made-public-art-fun read more