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Evan
Lewis has been producing and exhibiting his outdoor
kinetic wind sculpture since 1984. In 1988 he was commissioned to make a
wind/sound sculpture for Expo 88 in
Australia. In 1992 Lewis designed and built a sculptural weather vane and a
fountain commissioned by the Phoenix Arts Commission in Arizona. Lewis has won a number of awards including the best of show award in the
Seventh Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition at Appalachian
State University in
Boone,
NC, for his piece, Sound Asylum.
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| One of his
first monumental site-specific pieces was a 30’ high stainless steel
piece for a public location in Denver, Colorado
entitled Cielo y Tierra. In 1995 Lewis was commissioned to produce
sculpture prominently featured in the Warner Brothers production
"Twister". Four years later he installed a 40’ high
site-specific sculpture for the campus of the Northern Illinois
University
in De Kalb
commissioned by the Capital Development Board of Illinois. In 2003 Lewis
installed a large sculpture dome on the campus of the Southern
Illinois
University
in Edwardsville. A year later he was selected from 117 finalists to create
a kinetic piece for downtown
East Lansing
in Michigan. During that time, Lewis has also exhibited at several Pier Walk shows in
Chicago and many other sculpture shows nationally.
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| In 2006
Lewis installed a monumental kinetic sculpture in the Bluff
View
Art
District
in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The next four years were spent developing and installing
Lewis’s third commission sponsored by the Capital Development Board of
Illinois. It was a very ambitious piece created for the Morris Library of
the Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. The sculpture consists
of two pieces - an exterior piece and an
interior ceiling-hung mobile. The exterior sculpture is a wind-powered
spinner that is attached to the facade. A shaft piercing the facade
connects the spinner to the interior mobile. The power of the wind is
transferred through the shaft and a series of gear reductions and puts the
ceiling-hung sculpture in motion. The mobile moves very slowly and
deliberately, no matter what the velocity of the wind. On the other hand,
the exterior spinner might move very dynamically at times in an
interesting contrast to the interior piece.
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this period of time, Lewis was also commissioned to create a suite of
seven sculptures, entitled “Seven Spires” for the
McCormick Center
in Chicago. He installed this piece in 2008.
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| Lewis is
currently at work on two major public pieces. The first is a commission with the City of Toledo, Ohio. Lewis was selected from a large pool of
artists to create a kinetic sculpture for the new Tribute Park
that commemorates the creation of the Maumee River
Crossing Bridge
and all persons who participated in its creation. This commission is
scheduled to be installed this spring.
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| The other
commission – his largest to date – is with the City of Memphis,
Tennessee. Lewis was selected to create a kinetic sculpture dome that will
be prominently featured on the newly revitalized riverfront on the banks
of the river Mississippi. The completion of this project is set for 2012.
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| Evan
Lewis grew up mostly in Santa Barbara,
California. He received his BFA in sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of
Chicago in 1989 and has been living and working in Chicago ever since.
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