Vancouver Icons: 217.5 Arc x 13′

Vancouver has a wide selection of public art that is supported by various city or government branches, organizations, or private supporters. A few pieces that were installed around town during the Vancouver Biennale art campaign have since stayed on as legacy works. One of which is 217.5 Arc x 13′ by Bernar Venet of France, which is most commonly known as the “metal ribs at the beach”.

With its rusty metal arcs placed on the beach with soft ocean, mountain, and sunset-painted backgrounds the piece is frequently photographed — making it today’s Vancouver Icon photo feature:

Photo credit: colink. on Flickr

Photo credit: chris.huggins & vjm. on Flickr

Photo credit: Roland on Flickr

From Vancouver Biennale: “Venet illustrates the beauty, balance and plasticity of raw steel in his artistically mathematical manipulations of this industrial material. Nature, the universe, and life are all interconnected and explainable mathematically according to Venet. 217.5 X 13′ was acquired by the Vancouver Biennale as a Legacy work at the conclusion of the 2005-2007 Biennale.”

Photo credit: Cam in Van on Flickr

Photo credit: Tom Wiebe on Flickr

Photo credit: Hub☺ & SqueakyMarmot on Flickr

Photo credit: Doug Farmer on Flickr

Other Vancouver Icons posts include: Canoe Bridge, Vancouver Block, Bloedel Conservatory, Centennial Rocket, Canada Place, Old Courthouse/Vancouver Art Gallery, Dominion Building, Science World, Gastown Steam Clock, SFU Burnaby, Commodore Lanes, Siwash Rock, Kitsilano Pool, White Rock Pier, Main Post Office, Planetarium Building, Lord Stanley Statue, Vancouver Library Central Branch, Victory Square, Digital Orca, The Crab Sculpture, Girl in Wetsuit, The Sun Tower, The Hotel Vancouver, The Gassy Jack Statue, The Marine Building, and The Angel of Victory. Should you have a suggestion for the Vancouver Icons series please feel free to leave a note in the comments. It should be a thing, statue, or place that is very visible and recognizable to the public.