Blog-IT-o ergo sum

	5/10/2005

Bank of America - Charlotte Triptych

My univited registration form submission yesterday did not get me on today's list of approximately 200 approved guests allowed to attend the pro-CAFTA pitch given by President Maduro of Honduras. The event was held in the law offices Moore and Van Allen suite 4700 in the Bank of America building in downtown Charlotte.

Even with the black, secret service, Maryland tagged SUV's parked in front on Tyron Street, I was at least allowed to sit in the air-conditioned first floor lobby area. From my seat I could contemplate what meaning the artist of the lobby frescoes/triptych was trying to convey to office visitors.

Maybe someone who is familiar with the art could enlighten us. My first reaction was that this was something from the Soviet, or Cuban art school or maybe from a fan of Diego Rivera. The center mural with a nude man interwoven with five nude females tumbling to the earth in a fireball was difficult to comprehend. There is a gold net separating this group from people on the street. One of personages in the street crowd is a stern looking nun like you might have had in your Catholic school of years gone by. Somewhat obscured in the background is man topped by a bishop's hat. There is also a guy in a radioactive suit.

The artist has some issues I think. The style and emphasis on shapes reminded me of the art piece I saw in a Kiev museum during my Evil Empire era trip to the Soviet Union. (Like many museums of that time it was formerly a church) That piece depicted a Catholic priest ensconsed in a throne made from an artillery shell blessing two Nazi officers as starving Soviet citizens begged for food or mercy at their feet. Perhaps I, an engineer not art critic, am over reaching here. But, the triptych did seem out of place for the lobby of one of the nation's largest banks. Unless of course...

6:14:44 PM

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