Chicago Artist Showcases Piece At Grant Park
(CBS) -- If you're walking or driving along Michigan Avenue near 9th Street, you won't be able to miss it.
"It's 80 feet long by 8 feet high by 8 feet wide and it's covered with the names of almost 400,000 contemporary or 21st century artists," says creator and Chicago artist Tony Tasset.
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The Artists Monument is a tribute to 21st century and contemporary artists.
"It's my homage to those artists," Tasset said. "I tried to gather as many names as I possibly could. They are presented in alphabetical order so there is no real hierarchy. You have very, very famous people like Picasso or Warhol but the vast majority are complete unknowns."
The exhibit debuted in New York in 2014. Tassett says he's thrilled to have it here in his hometown indefinitely.
"I love to see it in the context with the general in the horse next to it with the changing weather. It's fantastic. I'm thrilled to have it here. It's my hometown. This location on Michigan Avenue it's a dream. It's perfect."
Names are carved into colorful acrylic panels on two shipping containers, a nod to the industrial materials of major minimalist works.
Tasset has also been a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago's School of Art and Art History for 27 years.
"I love when people find someone's name that they recognize," he said. "For people who don't know artists, it's an acknowledgement of wow, that's a lot of people doing this thing called art."
The Artists Monument will be on display in Grant Park indefinitely.
