{"data":{"id":"1196","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":1196,"topgoose_id":578,"tms_id":1196,"display_name":"George Segal","sort_name":"Segal George","display_date":"1924–2000","begin_date":"1924","end_date":"2000","biography":"\u003cp\u003eGeorge Segal began his career as a\nfigurative painter, but by 1958 he started\nto work his figures in three dimensions,\nbringing them off the canvas and into the\nspace of life. In 1961 he began experimenting\nwith a new type of medical bandage\nmeant for setting bones, which he dipped\ninto wet plaster and wrapped onto live\nmodels. After removing the dried bandage\nmolds, Segal was left with hollow, life-\nsized white sculptural forms, which he soon\nbegan integrating into architectural\nscenes to create tableaux with scavenged\nmaterials. Later, around 1970, he began to\nfill the molds with plaster or bronze, creating\nfigures whose surfaces preserved the\nrough bandage textures.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlthough in select ensembles\nSegal referenced historic and politically\ncharged events, including the Holocaust and\nthe civil rights movement, he primarily\nchose subjects drawn from daily life. In\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u003ca href=\"/collection/works/1796\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eWalk,\nDon’t Walk \u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003ethree anonymous figures stand\non a concrete sidewalk. They are positioned\nin close proximity to one another but do\nnot interact. In observing city dwellers prior\nto making this sculpture, Segal noted\nhow “people moving around seem to be in\nsome kind of hypnotic dream state. They\nseem to be programmed.” The ghostly\nbodies of Segal’s sculptural figures seem\nmomentarily frozen, instinctively negotiating\nthis typical urban scene. Segal became\nintrigued with the craftsmanship and\nmonumentality of New York’s street signs\nin preparing this work, and the device\nhere is a functioning example. It faces\noutward, implicating viewers in the narrative\nof the scene: they momentarily become\npedestrians across the street from\nthe sculpted figures, also waiting for the\nlight to change.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500032575","wikidata_id":"Q703624","created_at":"2017-08-30T15:44:10.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-24T01:30:26.038-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/1196/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/1196/exhibitions"}}}}