Postcards from Chicago: #9 Cloud Gate (aka The Bean)

by Wes Douglas, USk Chicago

As we look forward to the 8th International Symposium, I will continue to take you on a virtual tour of my favorite views of Chicago which I have named “Postcards from Chicago.” Each week I will post a different scene of Chicago – some may be familiar to you and some may be less familiar – and by the time I am done it should be time for the Symposium. To help me illustrate the popularity of this week’s sculpture, I am happy to feature the work of Chicago Urban Sketchers Hope Hanley, Muriel Ann, Brian Wright, Yao Lin and Chuck Stull.

For this second postcard, we visit Cloud Gate, a public sculpture by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor, the centerpiece of AT&T Plaza at Millennium Park. Constructed between 2004 and 2006, the sculpture is nicknamed “The Bean” because of its shape. Made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, its highly polished exterior has no visible seams. It measures 33 by 66 by 42 feet (10 by 20 by 13 m), and very, very heavy. Kapoor’s design was inspired by liquid mercury and the sculpture’s surface reflects and distorts the city’s skyline. Visitors can walk around and under Cloud Gate’s 12-foot (3.7 m) high arch. On the underside is the “omphalos” (Greek for “navel”), a concave chamber that warps and multiplies reflections. 

Cloud Gate will certainly garner much attention during the 8th International Symposium as it has become one of the most iconic sculptures in Chicago, along with the previously featured Chicago Picasso, the lions at The Art Institute of Chicago, and Calder’s Flamingo. Cloud Gate will certainly be the centerpiece of any visit to Chicago.

While the sculpture was being constructed, the public and media outlets nicknamed it “The Bean” because of its shape, a name that Kapoor was not very fond of. Months later, Kapoor officially named the piece “Cloud Gate.” The sculpture has been used as a backdrop in commercial films, motion pictures and multiple TV programs. 

Because Cloud Gate is a public piece of art, it is currently covered by United States copyright law, and the artist holds the copyright for the sculpture. This allows the public to freely photograph Cloud Gate, but any commercial reproductions of the photographs requires permission from the artist or the City of Chicago (which has licensed the art).