Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/101712
Parting Shot ghost of a good thing CLEANUP TIME: MCCARRAN'S WEATHERED ART IS READY FOR ITS CURTAIN CALL. BY KRISTEN PETERSON O nly in Vegas! 108 ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL O'LEARY T hough nobody, I'm guessing, has ever counted, there must be enough rhinestones and sequins in the Valley to create an evening gown that could drape the entire planet and shimmer into the galaxies. "More is more" has been our mantra, but like a Hollywood glamour girl turned serious actress, we've matured as we've aged and, despite our need to sparkle, we also want to be taken seriously. When it comes to art, we began dabbling decades ago, and our tastes have grown over time. We've had Monets, Manets, Warhols, Lichtensteins, Mapplethorpes, and Vermeers. We've had Jenny Holzers on our marquees, rolling down the canopy of Fremont Street, and now on a screen in a valet parking garage. We've plopped Henry Moore near Maya Lin, trucked in Claes Oldenburg, planted a Deborah Butterfield in an office park and a Fletcher Benton behind a health facility. Art is our way to boast that we're much more than sequins, pasties, and velvet stage curtains. And that's probably why every single public piece of it in Vegas becomes a lightning rod for debate. It's that important to us. We must entertain and inspire; our very existence relies on it. But we struggle to also prove that we are much more than meets the eye. As such, we argue about every commissioned piece: Is it "serious" enough art? Does it convey what our unique city has to offer? Does it show off in a way that only Las Vegas can? How then, have we managed to watch John Torreano's Ghost Gems (1988) crumble? Installed more than two decades ago on the meticulously landscaped drive to the departure gates at McCarran International Airport, they are the last piece of Vegas that tourists see. Large (10 to 18 feet in height) and built from metal tubing, glass, and glass-like panes, they were celebrated when they arrived, creations of an artist whose cosmos-inspired renderings and sculptures have garnered attention over the decades, placing him in exhibits at the Whitney and MOMA, among others. But the unassuming gems here in Las Vegas have sat quietly, one might say awkwardly, in a city that survives on that which sparkles loudest. One of the pieces gave in at some point, succumbing to unknown elements, spilling its blue shards onto the gravel below, and it has surprisingly gone unrepaired. Is that really how we want our visitors to remember our town? We're Vegas: When our gemstones lose their luster, we replace them with something bigger and better, more daring and innovative. Of all the watercooler chat about every piece of new public art, let's please revisit this one. It's time to either pick up the pieces or move on to the next big thing. It's the Vegas way. With that mindset, we added steel stallion and big horn sheep sculptures to the freeways in the midst of the recession. Both criticized and loved, the landscape enhancements signal a return to the idea of Las Vegas as a Western city in the desert. They're new and seemingly invincible, a sense of robust pride as we look ahead into a brighter future, as if saying Las Vegas truly is indestructible. V VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 108_V_BOB_LastPage_Win13.indd 108 1/2/13 1:27 PM