Jane Manus, the internationally-renowned American artist known for her large-scale, bold geometric sculptures, installed her newest work, “Skyward,” on the Marilyn & Stanley M. Katz Seniors Campus of MorseLife, 4847 Fred Gladstone Drive in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Ms. Manus’ sculpture is located near the entrance of the Sondra & David S. Mack Pavilion, MorseLife’s newly-constructed Short-Term Rehabilitation Center.
Since the 1970’s, Manus has achieved significant success and prominence in the art world with her abstract works. She began developing her geometric sculptures when she was a young artist at the Art Institute of Boston and learned to weld metal into sculpture. Considered a “breakthrough” in her long career, her vibrant works, made exclusively of pieces of metal, integrate disparate elements of geometry, transforming the spaces they inhabit.
“With ‘Skyward,’ I wanted to create a monumental sculpture that one could walk through and see through from all angles – a three dimensional work,” Ms. Manus said. “I wanted it to be interactive, something that viewers would easily touch and experience.”
Ms. Manus’ sculptures are typically in monochromatic colors with this one being the color of the sky. Mary Alice Pappas, Senior Vice President of MorseLife Foundation, notes that it is an honor to include a work by Jane Manus at the new Mack Pavilion. “Its name, ‘Skyward,’ represents what patients of the Mack Pavilion seek to accomplish – to move above and beyond the illness or injury that brought them here,” she said. “Beyond that, its bold color and design will truly catch the eye of visitors to our campus.”
In her describing her craft, Ms. Manus says: “As a sculptor, I am interested in exploring several aspects of three dimensional space in my work; the interaction of positive and negative spaces, the difference between frontal and side views, and the play of shadows on the surfaces surrounding the object. My work is defined by minimal abstract form; bold color; highly finished, tactile surfaces; and architectural integrity. It is about harmony with the environment and balance with the human form.”
Jane Manus was born in New York, raised in Palm Beach, and is now based in West Palm Beach, Florida. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and is included in many prestigious collections, including those of The Sagamore Collection in Miami Beach; The Harn Museum of Art in Gainesville; The Lincoln Center/List Collection in New York; The Georgia Museum of Art in Athens; The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University; and The Syracuse University Museum of Art.
Jane Manus’ new sculpture,“Skyward,” is located at the Sondra & David S. Mack Pavilion, MorseLife’s Short-Term Rehabilitation Center, 4847 Fred Gladstone Drive, West Palm Beach, Florida. For more information, call (561) 687-5749.
View a video of the installation here: http://youtu.be/oPrmMVetW6E
