Playground
Playground, 1962 (built 2003)
Tony Smith (1912-1980)
Welded Steel, Black Paint
City of Beverly Hills
Smith experimented with simple, three-dimensional geometric shapes initially fabricated from wood or cardboard, then combined and enlarged to create drama through scale. Smith is associated with the Minimalist movement, but his work by and large avoids the self-effacing austerity of Minimalism to provide a sense of surprise, grace, architectural poise, and even wit.