Recently, exhibition space Wrightwood 659 in Chicago held a documentary screening and panel discussion on artist Chryssa’s largest sculpture, which she produced, engineered, and constructed in collaboration with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
The program centered around the gallery’s current exhibit, “Chryssa in New York,” showcasing the work of artist Chryssa, who explored the use of signage, text, and neon. After dedicating her works throughout the early 1960s to the signs and symbols of Times Square in New York City, she would traverse to and from Chicago for a monumental sculpture commissioned in 1979 for the SOM-designed 33 West Monroe in the Loop neighborhood of Chicago. The first office building post-energy crisis to include multi-story stacked atria, SOM’s Bruce Graham envisioned Chryssa’s neon work as a lantern to illuminate the space. Approximately two decades later, without announcement or public record, the sculpture was demolished, disappearing with only a handful of images to record its existence.
Following the premiere of the 10-minute documentary discussing Chryssa’s lost monumental work, the panel discussion featured SOM staff who had personally worked with Chryssa, including former Partner Richard F. Tomlinson II, former Associate David Fleener, and former Executive Secretary to Partner Bruce Graham, Sonia Cooke.
