The King Building is graced with three artistic elements, a 4,800 square foot terrazzo floor, seven large-scale paintings by internationally celebrated artist Trevor Bell, and photographs of the local environment by our own alumnus Pierson Hill (MS 2011).
Trevor Bell (1930-2017) was an internationally known abstract painter from Britain who served on the faculty at FSU as a Professor of Master Painting from 1976-1996. While on fellowship at the University of Leeds, he developed his distinctive style of using a diversity of shaped canvases, eschewing traditional rectangular forms, as well as his dramatic emphasis on contrasting and blended colors. While at FSU, with access to larger studio space, he further developed his style with the large-scale paintings that he is best known for. Six, almost-rectilinear paintings in the “Still” series stand sentinel over the King lobby, while the tapestry-like “Pavanne” graces the reception space outside the main lecture hall, 1024. All paintings are on loan from the collections of the Florida State University Museum of Fine Art.
Bell, Trevor/1930-2017
Bell, Trevor/1930-2017
Bell, Trevor/1930-2017
Bell, Trevor/1930-2017
Bell, Trevor/1930-2017
Bell, Trevor/1930-2017
Bell, Trevor/1930-2017
Tying together the entire expanse of the two-story lobby with its connecting hallways is the terrazzo floor designed by Denver artist Carolyn Braaksma (Braaksma Design Inc.), well known for her large-scale public artwork, in collaboration with artist Brad Kaspari. “Life Tapestries” was commissioned by the State of Florida’s Art in State Buildings Program, which purchases or commissions appropriate public artwork to enhance the state’s built-environment. The floor features images drawn from the research conducted by faculty in biology department when the building was constructed, 2009. The margins progressively zoom in on chromosomes down to the nucleotides composing DNA, while the core includes everything from amoebas to starfish to mathematical equations. Element details are described below.
