Oh Marisol

Back in April, we went to see the Solar Eclipse in Ohio. While we were there we visited the Toledo Museum of Art to see the Marisol Retrospective.

I have been fascinated with her work since I was a little kid when I saw a picture of her sculptures in Time magazine, (a major source of information to me as a child.) I was just amazed that a statue could be a block with a face on it. It seemed so outrageous and so approachable at the same time. I was not so far away from blocks myself.

At the time I did not understand that besides being an artist, she was also a young and beautiful celebrity who hung out with Andy Warhol and other fabulous people of the late fifties and early sixties.

Eventually she tired of celebrity and the public eye, and withdrew from the scene. She always felt that her art could speak for itself, and wasn’t really into the art “game”. And while the art world dropped her like a hot potato, she continued to produce art constantly until her death in 2016. She really is a true artist, only driven by the desire to create. (Here is more information about her if you want more detail.)

Seeing all of her work was such a treat. I love all of it: the early chunky statues; the blocky paintings; the drawings filled with hands; the painted and drawn blocks and her face on so many sculptures.

No one in my family had ever heard of her, but all came away from that show as fans. Marisol, you are awesome.