Three Columns

Vincent Stemmler’s works often reference place through photography, molds, or collecting objects and materials on location as a way to represent both collective history and individual memory. For Counterpublic 2023, Stemmler’s large-scale sculpture Three Columns sat inside an active fountain at the major confluence of three streets: Jefferson, Broadway, and Chippewa. Three Columns consists of multiple sculptural elements that incorporate molds taken from the surrounding neighborhoods and images from the relief sculpture carved into the bank across the street.

While some parts of this “three-dimensional collage” are in direct reference to the surrounding neighborhood, some are so commonplace that they could be from anywhere in the United States. The columns themselves reference the Neoclassical Revival, a ubiquitous imperialist  architectural trend, and is heavily influenced by the idea of the facade—how something can be presented as one thing but be completely different or even empty on the inside. In this sense, Three Columns itself is made to seem contrived, like much of the so-called history that is presented to us as fact rather than fiction.

Following the 2023 exhibition, Three Columns was donated to the National Building Arts Center—across the river in Sauget, IL—and will be on display indefinitely and can be seen on their monthly tours. NBAC continues to invite collaborations with artists through projects that speak to and through their collections.