Can’t say the good people of Bilbao, Spain don’t have a sense of humour. What better way to
welcome the world to their magnificent art gallery, the Bilboa Guggenheim, than with a warm
and endearing puppy? Who doesn’t like puppies?
This puppy is 13 meters or 43 feet tall and sheds petals not hair.
Puppy was created by American pop artist Jeff Koons, – he has another smaller, whimsical
sculpture called Tulips inside as well – and is inspired by an earlier Koons polychromed wooden sculpture barely two feet tall called White Terrier. Puppy lacks the detail of White Terrier but the simple if massive shape works. Puppy sits there majestically, surveying his domain like the Sphinx, his coat of over 38,000 marigolds, begonias, impatiens, and petunias glistening in the sun.
The entire structure is supported by an enormous stainless-steel armature covered with a layer of turf, wire mesh, and geotextile fabric to hold the plants in place. Interior piping supplies water to feed them every twenty-four hours and a team of twenty people groom Puppy’s coat twice a year, in May and October, replacing old flowers with seasonal varieties to conform to the climate.
Like many others, I went to Bilbao thinking I would see famous paintings and sculptures. I was ill-prepared for Puppy and the technique of using flowers as a medium.
Others have tried it. Spanish artist Ignacio Canales Aracil favours moulding dried flowers into
bulbous shapes while Columbian-American sculptor Diana Sofia Lorenzo wraps live blooms
around stand-alone steel armatures. Lorenzo’s pieces can be five-feet tall, mere pygmies
compared to Puppy; the world’s largest.
Flowers have universal appeal. They add texture, colour and generate a feeling of calm and being at peace.
Puppy is not just a technical accomplishment; it represents a particular mindset. Bilbao’s
planners didn’t skimp when deciding to build a world class gallery. They wanted to make a
statement. First, they turned to world famous architect Frank Gehry to design their sweeping,
titanium clad showpiece which won awards the moment it was completed. The interior is just as stunning. Gehry’s use of space emulates the majesty of a Gothic cathedral.
Next, they filled it with stunning and historically significant contemporary art.
And finally, they installed monumental crowd-pleasing sculptures at the approaches. Maman, a very popular and much photographed steel spider sits at one end and Puppy at the other. Maman is static while Puppy, covered in fresh blooms which are replenished twice a year, is literally and figuratively alive. Perfect.