American, b. 1941
Maquette for Connecting, 2016
Stainless steel, painted wood
50 x 68 1/4 x 68 1/4 in. (127 x 173.4 x 173.4 cm)
© Martin Puryear, courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery
 
Puryear intended the top of this swooping steel arc sitting on curved granite bases, which reaches over thirty feet tall, to be visible from outside of the United States Embassy walls in Beijing. The accompanying drawing shows Puryear’s plans for the paving pattern—dark cobblestones arrayed in the configuration of the symbol for yin and yang—a detail visible only from within the Embassy.