The Rainbow Swash is the common name for the untitled work by Corita Kent in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Rainbow designs painted on a 140-foot-tall LNG storage tank (43 m) are the world's largest copyright artwork. Highly visible from daily movers on Interstate 93, the landmark is considered to be one of Boston's major landmarks, similar to the Citgo sign.
Video Rainbow Swash
Description
Originally created in 1971, Rainbow Swash consists of rainbow-colored outlines over a natural gas storage tank on the edge of the Dorchester sea, located about two miles (3 km) south of Downtown Boston. The 140-foot (43 m) landmark design is very visible from the Southeast Expressway and by hundreds of thousands of commuters every day. The design was moved to its present location in 1992 when the original LNG tank was demolished.
Maps Rainbow Swash
History
In 1971, then president of the Boston Gas Company Eli Goldston commissioned Corita Kent to paint the Rainbow Swash design in one of two adjacent LNG tanks facing the Southway Expressway Boston. The original design was painted on an 8-inch (20 cm) scale model, in which 20 painters reproduced work on 140-foot tanks (43 m).
Since the 1970s, Rainbow Swash has become controversial. The mural was criticized for supposedly displaying the profile of the Vietnamese Chairman Ho Chi Minh's face in a blue line. Kent is a peace activist, and some believe he is protesting the Vietnam War, but Kent himself has always denied embedding such a profile. In 1992, the original rainbow painted LNG tank was torn down and Rainbow Swash reinvented in adjacent tanks despite objections from the veteran group. However, the blue line is less prominent in 1992 reproduction. Less controversial, the yellow line is said to resemble Fred Flintstone's profile looking southward.
In 2000, Boston Gas was acquired by Keyspan and the Keyspan logo replaced the Boston Gas logo under the rainbow. Keyspan was acquired and merged into the National Network plc and the National Grid logo was placed on top of the Keyspan logo in September 2007.
Controversy
A famous photographer, James Prigoff, ends up in the United States Department of Homeland Security database after photographing Rainbow Swash. ACLU California is currently suing the Federal Government questioning the legality of the Suspicious Activity Reporting program used to report photographers.
Essential appearance
The Swash appeared on the opening credits for the 2005 Fever Pitch movie.
References
External links
- Artist Information: Corita Kent
- "WGBH switched on digital mural at a new excavation in Brighton" by Donna Goodison, Boston Herald (17 September 2007)
- The Ho Chi Minh Memorial Gas Tank at Boston Online
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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