Cloud Bank
Leo Berk
Shoreline City Hall
Fourteen clouds represent the various neighborhoods that form the City of Shoreline.
Seafoam green clouds appear to float inside the two-story lobby of Shoreline City Hall. In Leo Saul Berk’s Cloud Bank, 14 independent shapes coalesce into one intricate form—a metaphor for the 14 original neighborhoods that came together when Shoreline incorporated in 1995. These shapes hang from 500 vinyl-coated cables, which extend to the ceiling to create a striking effect of rain in reverse.
Made using a translucent, lightly tinted acrylic material, the sculpture catches the light around its edges, where the color is richest. This effect gives the artwork a mutability that depends on the daylight and weather, as well as the angle of many possible viewer perspectives. In front of the second-floor elevators, the piece can also be seen from above. At night, passersby can spy it through the glass curtain wall facing the intersection of Midvale Avenue N and N 175th Street. From within the lobby, it almost looks like the cloud forms belong to the sky in the distance.Continue Reading ›
Based in Seattle, Berk has received numerous public art commissions. His studio work has been shown in Northwest galleries and museums such as the Bellevue Arts Museum, Frye Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery, and Tacoma Art Museum, as well as in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oslo, and Philadelphia. He was selected to create Cloud Bank via 4Culture’s Artist Registry and its fabrication and installation was managed as a consulting effort. Other 4Culture commissions include Bridge Manual and Claim Stakes.
