Yvonne Domenge sculptures

maquette for a sculpture by Yvonne Domenge

Photo: Guylaine Couttolenc

Chicagoans have a knack for christening sculptural monoliths with colorful nicknames: We call Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate the “Bean,” Picasso’s Untitled the “Baboon,” and Calatrava’s never-built Spire a few phallic names I won’t mention here.

This week, Mexican artist Yvonne Domenge installs her large-scale works on Millennium Park’s Boeing Gallery, where they’ll join the ranks of very visible public structures. On the park’s south end, three of the six sculptures are steel and round, and seemingly titled after the inanimate objects they emulate: the 13-foot-tall yellow Tabachin Ribbon, the 11-foot-high white Wind Waves and the ten-foot-tall blue Coral.

The Boeing Gallery’s north end holds the largest work: Tree of Life, a red-painted bronze sculpture flanked by two pod shapes. Domenge—whose display is partly supported by Mexican organizations, including Mexico’s National Council for Culture and Arts and the Consulate General of Mexico—conceptualized the image in connection with the pre-Columbian symbol, which is said to unite the underworld, earth and heavens.

The sculptures’ maquettes (pictured)—briefly displayed at the Chicago Cultural Center­—give a glimpse of what we should expect. The objects are both hardened with new-car-like paint and softened by poetic imagery—a contrast, we imagine, that will be enhanced by the architectural nature of the full-sized sculptures. As for what we will call them (Wiffle ball, red taco, true-to-name yellow ribbon?), we’re guessing that will take shape on its own.

View the finalized sculptures from Wednesday 6 until October 2012.