Artist reveals meaning behind campus statues

Those statues are as confused as you are about the giant silver edifice smack dab in the middle of Cornell Plaza.
Betty Sabo and her brother, Gary Beals, are the artists behind “Modern Art,” the display in question. Sabo has Alzheimer’s, so Beals spoke on her behalf. He said abstract art made its way into the art community about the time that Sabo was studying expressionism.

“She was ambivalent about modern art,” he said. “She appreciated abstract art. She didn’t hate it, but she believed that the real art was realistic art. She just kind of thought it was a passing fancy, and that good, expressionist and objective art will return to dominance someday.”

Beals created the sculpture while Sabo worked on the people. It premiered August 2004.
Beals said the figures surrounding his centerpiece have intentional reactions to abstract art.

“She had preconceived notions about it. The major ones are they love it or they hate it,” he said. “So I think she just thought it would be an interesting dialogue in the tableau to have these various reactions to modern art.”
UNM administrators asked Sabo, a local landscape painter and sculptor, to create a piece as an addition to the UNM Permanent Art Collection, Beals said.

“She’s prominent, and she’s done a lot for the University in terms of fundraising,” he said. “She’s raised a lot of money for them, and she’s a prominent alumnus. I think they wanted to have her represented on the campus.”

Rina Ouellette, an administrative assistant with the biology department, said the artist’s intended message wasn’t clear to her, but the display inspired thought on her part.

“Personally I like them; they just make you stop and think,” she said. “Aesthetically, it makes the campus more pleasant to look at. I like it if the art is maybe a little bit provocative. … Maybe more provocative than that, just enough to get people thinking.”
Student Danny Knapp said he appreciates campus art, but he doesn’t particularly like Sabo and Beals’ display.

“They’re kind of creepy,” he said. “I don’t pay much attention to them anymore, but that was my first impression years ago. They’re boring. I don’t think it’s art.”

Student Brittany Borgen said she has only viewed the figures from afar, but wondered what they represent.
“I’ve heard a lot of people trying to figure out what they’re really talking about, if it’s really the statue or something else,” she said. “I’m one of those artsy people, so I thought it was kind of cool seeing those.”