Review

 John Northington

12 a.m.-11:59 p.m.

Art in R Park
Roe Blvd., Interstate 35 to Johnson Drive
Roeland Park, KS

Hours: 24 hours
Runs through: April 30 for Scourge; Bomber is part of city's permanent collection.

Artist's site: http://www.jrnconcrete.com
Art in R Park site: http://www.roelandpark.net/art-in-r-park.html

I know, it's not supposed to break the mid-30s today. After highs in the teens earlier this week, I'm not going to complain. That said, I'll understand if you want to stay in your car and enjoy John Northington's works as you drive past them on Roe Boulevard.

It's taken me way too long to feature a sculptor on ARTKC365. That's not why I chose Northington's work. It chose me. I got hooked by the contrast in his two pieces, Scourge and Bomber.

Bomber, now in the city's permanent collection, was part of Art in R Park. The program began in 2007 and is now in its third installment, which began in October and will run through April. Bomber first appeared in the second round. Scourge is one of four new sculptures, along with works by Todd Baker, Zachary Meyer and Derek Webster.

The pieces stand in the median of Roe Boulevard, which bisects Roeland Park from north to south. Bomber is visible from Roe, in an open field at the south end of the art drive, while Scourge is the first work you see coming in from the north. It's fitting that they're at opposite ends, because they couldn't be more different.

Scourge, pictured above, is a feast for texture lovers. Even at 35 miles an hour -- okay, 39, so as not to impede the traffic flow -- the rough concrete and gnarled steel convey a sense of age and hard use. This doesn't look like something put together four years ago, which it is. It looks like something that went through an apocalypse and lay undiscovered for years before being dragged from the ruins.

Contrast that with Bomber, which is all clean lines and futuristic grace. More than the title reveals its kinship to Scourge, though. Like its twisted sibling, destruction is inherent in Bomber's design. Either the craft has dropped its load of death and is banking to go home, or it's heeling over on its side for a fatal plunge to earth.

(I know. It's all sunshine and happiness today, isn't it?)

Maybe what we need in these chilly, hard days is art -- cold and heavy though it might be -- to remind us that no matter what happens, vision and creativity and the drive to find meaning will continue as long as we humans remain.

That's enough to get anyone out of bed in the morning.

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