Stilt Man

Richard Johnston
American, (1942-2017)

Stilt Man, 1996

Welded, powder coated, and painted steel, 102" x 36" x 26"

Museum Purchase with Funds from the Charter Member Endowment and the President’s Fund for Sculpture, NEHMA

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Stilt Man is located inside the lobby of the Chase Fine Arts Center. Artist Richard Johnston made the abstract sculpture by welding together pieces of steel and then powder-coating it with a red surface. Johnston is world renowned for his large-scale welded-steel sculptures. As the title suggests, Stilt Man depicts a human figure in a precarious balance, representing a metaphor for life. Here, the artist employed an abstract style and pared the figure down to simple geometric shapes. Johnston taught in USU’s Art Department from 1968 to 1975 and was also the Director of the Salt Lake Art Center. Later, he relocated to California to become the founding director of the California State University San Bernardino Art Museum and Chair of the University’s Art Department.