Perry Park in Austin: “Art Park Phase 2 is now solidly underway, with an ambitious timeline for installing more sculptures on loan from The Contemporary Austin in 2017. FOPP, working closely with Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Art in Public Places, and the Arts Commission, has received approval to install Alas #IV by Betty Gold.

courtesy Friends of Perry Park

BETTY GOLD, ALAS #IV, 1994

Betty Gold (American, born 1935) has said she often begins her rugged steel sculptures “with the simple act of folding paper.” This technique of using paper maquettes as sketches for her work allows her to deconstruct and reassemble the flat rectangle’s parts into a new whole, one “based on the linear geometry of rotating movement.” Working in a modernist vein, the Austin-born artist investigates the possibilities of geometric abstraction by exploring the relationships between simple shapes. For Alas #IV, Gold designed sheets of painted folded steel that extend from the sculpture’s center to interact with the surrounding space. The work’s title refers to alas, the Spanish word for wings—inspired by, as the artist has noted, “angels unfolding their wings on the verge of flight.” The dramatic contrasts between light and shadow at different times of day may also recall fleeting aerial elements such as birds, kites, or paper airplanes.

courtesy The Contemporary Austin