Solo
Object NameSculpture
Artist / Maker
William King
(American, 1925 - 2015)
Date1973
MediumPainted Aluminum
Dimensions142 13/16 x 120 x 30 in. (362.7 x 304.8 x 76.2 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LinePurchased by the University Museums with funding from the Vice Presidential offices of Business and Finance and Student Affairs. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Object numberU2011.468
Status
On viewCollections
CultureAmerican
Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025:
William “Bill” King worked in an art style intended to create figures immediately recognizable and accessible to the public. The elongated figures in much of King’s sculpture exaggerated motion, similar to other public works of art in the University Museums collection by him, Stride, Cupid, and Forward. Solo is an exuberant figure with arms outstretched and a face that appears to shout to those passing by.
Solo depicts another of King’s constant themes by exploring emotion through gesture. The artist created a sculpture that celebrates individual resilience. Solo expresses the triumph of surviving life’s everyday miseries and boldly anticipating one’s ability to address and conquer personal anxieties. Greeting visitors to the Anderson Sculpture Garden, this large bright red sculpture captures the attention of campus visitors and serves as an abstract example of figurative expression found in nearby sculpture by Christian Petersen.
Locations
- (not entered) Iowa State University, Elizabeth and Byron Anderson Sculpture Garden
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United States Glass Co.
1893
Object number: UM2023.21
Object Name: Sculpture, fountain and six bas relief panels
Christian Petersen
1934
Object number: U88.64a-g
Object Name: Cream Pitcher, Souviner
United States Glass Co.
1880-1899
Object number: UM2011.208
Object Name: Phonograph Record
Thomas A. Edison Inc.
c. 1912
Object number: 95.3.11
