Hear the Photographer (y1969-131)

In 2002, underground construction began at McCormick Hall and it became necessary to move Head of a Woman to its current location. I find wonderful symmetry in the placement of this concrete sculpture in front of architecture, carried out largely in the same material, by another icon of the 20th century, I.M. Pei, who completed Spelman Hall in 1973, only two years after Head of a Woman was finished. The ramshackle primitivism of the sculpture, seen against the refined minimalism of the building is a wonderful contrast and the various angles of light falling on the piece throughout the day show off the work at its best. Now facing due south, Head of a Woman is bathed in ample, changing light at all hours of the day, allowing the viewer to see (and photograph) it in a myriad of ways, bringing out its form, scale and subtle color.