Shuttlecocks

Artist Claes Oldenburg (American, born Sweden, 1929 - 2022)

Artist Coosje van Bruggen (American, born the Netherlands, 1942 - 2009)

Fabricator Merrifield-Roberts, Inc. (American)

Date1994

MediumAluminum, fiberglass-reinforced plastic, and paint

DimensionsOverall: 230 5/16 × 191 7/8 inches (584.99 × 487.35 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: acquired through the generosity of the Sosland Family

Object numberF94-1/3

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park

Collections

Contemporary Art

Terms

Gallery Label

The husband and wife team of Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen were commissioned in 1994 to design a sculpture for The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. They responded to the formality of the original neoclassical building and the green expanse of its lawn by imagining the Museum as a badminton net and the lawn as a playing field. The pair designed four birdies or shuttlecocks that were placed as though they had just landed on opposite sides of the net. Each shuttlecock weighs 5,500 pounds, stands nearly 18 feet tall and has a diameter of some 16 feet.

Provenance

Commissioned by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Published References

“Shining the Shuttlecocks,” The Kansas City Star (June 30, 1995): C1, (repro.).
Robert Haywood, “Demon in the Kitchen,” Art In America (October, 1995): 92.
Joseph Rykwert, “Monuments for Gargantua,” The Times Literary Supplement (November 10, 1995): 1, (repro.).
Celia McGee, “A Pop Art Provocateur Having Monumental Fun,” New York Times (October 1, 1995): H41.
Scott Cantrell, “Siebert, Sosland Foundation get arts award,” The Kansas City Star (December 17, 1995): K3.
Alice Thorson, “The Nelson ‘Shuttlecocks’ strike again,” The Kansas City Star (December 21, 1995): F4, (repro.).
Alice Thorson, “Nelson adds 12 outdoor sculptures,” The Kansas City Star (March 14, 1996): A1, A13.
Alice Thorson, “Top of the Week,” The Kansas City Star (April 14, 1996).
Jonathan Glancey, “ The great outdoors,” The Independent Magazine (May 18, 1996): 26, 27, (repro.).
Will Harvey, “Massive attack,” Observer Life (May 26, 1996): 28, 29, (repro.).
L. Kent Wolgamott, “Sculpture on a grand scale,” Lincoln Journal Star (September 1, 1996): 6H, 5H, (repro.).
Richard H. Axsom and David Platzker, Printed Stuff: Prints, Posters, and Ephemera by Claes Oldenburg, A Catalogue Raisonné 1958–1996 (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1997), 418.
Paul Clark, “Goin’ to Kansas City, the city of fountains,” Marin Independent Journal (November 9, 1997).
Gail Pennington, “KC with kids,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch (September 20, 1998): (repro.).
Alice Thorson, “What do you get for a 150^th anniversary,” The Kansas City Star (January 23, 1999): J1.
“Kc, Culture & the Arts,” Ingrams (June 1999): 30, (repro.).
R.W. Apple Jr., “K.C., the center of it all,” St. Petersburg Times (June 20, 1999): J, (repro.).
Julie Skurdenis, “Kansas City’s cool jazz soothes summer blues,” Sunday Patriot-News (June 27, 1999), (repro.).
Alice Thorson, “Moving Sculptures: Museum in an expansive mood for accommodating architectural addition,” The Kansas City Star (August 8, 1999): J4.
Alice Thorson, “State of the Arts,” The Kansas City Star (December 31, 1999), 19.
Troy Melhus, “See the finest art in Kansas City,” Des Moines Sunday Register (April 16, 2000): 7E, (repro.).
Craig Horst, “Travel on Foot to See the Quirky and Classic Art of Kansas City,” Salt Lake Tribune (June 18, 2000), (repro.).
Sue Beving, “Personal monuments,” Washington Times (June 24, 2000): D1.
Craig Horst, “Kansas City museums offer the traditional and the quirky,” The Ann Arbor News (June 25, 2000): (repro.).
“Feather busters,” The Kansas City Star (June 19, 2001), (repro.).
Alice Thorson, “Destination: Art,” The Kansas City Star (December 30, 2001): I1, (repro.).
“DeMaria’s Sun and Moons Completed at Nelson-Atkins,” Review (November 2002): 49, (repro.).
Delores Johnson, “Raising a racket,” The Kansas City Star (July 11, 2004): B1, (repro.).
Margaret Stafford, “Museum tournament celebrates anniversary of ‘hit’ sculptures,” Lawrence Journal World (July 11, 2004), (repro.).
“Birdie Bath,” The Kansas City Star (October 2004), (repro.).
David Klepper and Jim Sullinger, “ Health-care plan approved,” The Kansas City Star (May 1, 2005): B1, (repro.).
Rich Sugg, “Birdies back in town,” The Kansas City Star (July 28, 2005), (repro.).
Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (Kansas City:

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 237, (repro.).
Jean Williams, “Art Gallery District: Blend of art, culture, gardens, parks,” The Kansas City Star (January 3, 2008): Z4, (repro.).
Stephen Gibbs, “This Winter Visit World-Class Museums…Right Here in Kansas City,” Ingrams (November 2008): 62, (repro.).
David G. Wilkins, Bernard Schultz, and Katheryn M. Linduff, Art Past Art Present (Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009), 604, (repro.).
Rachel Skybetter, “Birdies of Paradise: The Nelson’s iconic Shuttlecocks—celebrating their 15^th anniversary—take visitors on flights of fancy,” The Kansas City Star Magazine (June 28, 2009): 10-15, (repro.).
Brianne Sanchez, “Creating a handmade world,” Des Moines Register (June 23, 2010).
Steve Paul, “architecture a-z,” The Kansas City Star Magazine (August 22, 2010): 27, repro.).
“Kansas City in 3-D,” The Kansas City Star (October 31, 2010): A15, (repro.).
Jan Schall, ed. Roxy Paine: Ferment (Kansas City: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2011), 12, 14, (repro.), 15, 16, 19.
Calli Price, “Art in Transition: Museum creates a continuum of artistic movements,” detours (Summer 2011): 20, (repro.), 21.
“Captivating Kansas City: Alaska Airlines’ newest destination,” Alaska Airlines (March 2012): 37, (repro.).
Katy Bergen, “Seeking KC’s defining images,” The Kansas City Star (July 2, 2012): A1, (repro.).
Gail Gregg, “Kansas City Chief,” ARTnews (October 2012): 54.
Darryl Levings, “When unauthorized nudes visit the grounds of the Nelson,” The Kansas City Star (April 23, 2013): D1.
A Labyrinth for the Park: Celebrating the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park (Kansas City: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2014), 6, (repro.), 22, (repro.), 23, 43, 51, 52, 54.

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