Buster Simpson

Lewis Cole "Buster" Simpson (born in 1942) is an American sculptor and environmental artist based in Seattle, Washington.

Buster Simpson
Born
Lewis Cole Simpson

1942
Saginaw, Michigan
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Michigan
Known forSculpture, Environmental art

Career
Part of Situations, a set of 31 skewed stone chairs installed by Simpson at Downtown Crossing station in the 1980s

Lewis Cole Simpson was born in Saginaw, Michigan and raised in a nearby farming community. He became interested in art while attending junior college in Flint and attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, graduating in 1969 with a master in fine arts. After graduating, Simpson joined other artists at the Woodstock Festival in New York state, helping build play areas for festivalgoers.[1][2]

Simpson caught the attention of glass artist Dale Chihuly in 1971 while giving a talk at the Rhode Island School of Design and invited him to join the new Pilchuck Glass School near Stanwood, Washington. Two years later, Simpson moved to Seattle and began his work in "recycled art" at a studio in Pioneer Square.[3] During the 1970s, Simpson created several pieces of public art along Post Alley near Pike Place Market, utilizing materials from dumpsters and thrift shops for Shared Clothesline and discarded bottles as scrap glass for 90 Pine Show and Counterparts. He also developed an alter ego, named "Woodman", used during street performances while scavenging for materials.[4][5]

During the 1980s, Simpson engaged in "agitprop" work, including dropping soft limestone blocks in the headwaters of the Hudson River that was dubbed by the media as "River Rolaids".[6] Simpson was later commissioned by institutions and governments across the United States and Canada to create public art to display in cities. Simpson was given his first career retrospective in 2013 at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, called Buster Simpson: Surveyor.[7]

In 2019, Buster Simpson was included in two group exhibitions exploring the material glass as vehicle for sculpture, in painting and as tool of conceptual inspiration - An Alternative History: The Other Glass, in New York City and As In Also: An Alternative Too, in Seattle - each organized by artist, published author and independent curator John Drury.

Works
Art in Public Places[8]
TITLE LOCATION CITY STATE/COUNTRY YEAR NOTES IMAGE
Divining Latta Plantation Nature Preserve

Visitor's Center

 Huntersville North Carolina 2018
Wickiup Overlook & Encampment Pearsall Park San Antonio Texas 2016
Discombobulated Discourse Duwamish Revealed Seattle Washington 2015
Orange Lining & Impressed Concrete TriMet Orange Line Portland Oregon 2015 Collaboration with Peg Butler
Cradle South Waterfront Park Portland Oregon 2015
Offering Cycle Anchorage Alaska 2014
Anthropocene Beach Elliott Bay Seawall Habitat Project Seattle Washington In Progress
Vernacular Bellevue Regional Library Bellevue Washington 2013
Presence Salt Lake City Public Safety Building Salt Lake City Utah 2013
Aerie US Army Corps of Engineers HQ Seattle Washington 2012
Oculus Sol Old Town Center Indio California 2012
Carbon Veil SeaTac International Airport Rental Car Facility Seattle Washington 2012
Dekumstruction Bike Corral Adjacent to Breakside Brewery/NE Portland Oregon 2012 Collaboration with Peg Butler
Bio Boulevard & Water Molecule Brightwater Treatment Facility Woodinville Washington 2011
Flamingo Arroyo Flamingo Arroyo Trailhead Las Vegas Nevada 2010 Collaboration with Barbara Grygutis, Kevin Berry
Cloke Plaza University of Maine Orono Maine 2010
Bucket Brigade East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District HQ Portland Oregon 2009 Collaboration with Peg Butler
Whole Flow Whole Foods Pasadena California 2009
Instrument Implement: Walla Walla Campanile William A. Grant Water & Environmental Center Walla Walla Washington 2008
Poetic License William A. Grant Water & Environmental Center Walla Walla Washington 2008
Ice Blade Olympic Oval Bridge Richmond British Columbia, Canada 2008
Parable Sound Transit, Mount Baker Station Seattle Washington 2008
Tempe Light Rail Transit Bridge Tempe Arizona 2007
The Monolith Turtle Bay Exploration Center Redding California 2005
Rosettaraay Merck-Rosetta Seattle Washington 2004
Ping Pong Plaza Merck-Rosetta Seattle Washington 2004
Beckoning Cistern Growing Vine Street Seattle Washington 2003
Mobius Band Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center Bainbridge Island Washington 2002
Portal Washington State University Pullman Washington 2001
Water Glass & Water Table Ellington Condominium Seattle Washington 2001
Moment Harbor Steps Seattle Washington 2000
Brush with Illumination False Creek Vancouver British Columbia, Canada updated 2009
Parapet Relay University of Washington/Tacoma Campus Tacoma Washington 1997
King Street Gardens Alexandria Virginia 1997 Collaboration with Laura Sindell, Mark Spitzer, Becca Hanson
Offering Hat, Drinking Cup and Illuminated Boat Kansas City Public Health Facility Kansas City Missouri 1997
Fenceline Artifact and Prairie Wagon Denver International Airport Denver Colorado 1994
Exchanger Fountain Anaheim Redevelopment Agency Anaheim California 1993
Host Analog Oregon Convention Center Portland Oregon 1991
Seattle George Monument Seattle Convention Center Seattle Washington 1989
Temporary Installations or Art Actions
TITLE LOCATION CITY STATE/COUNTRY YEAR NOTES IMAGE
Purge Series Hudson River and other locations New York 1983–Present
Shared Clothesline Belltown Seattle Washington 1978
Lundeberg Derby Monument Seattle Washington

References
  1. Updike, Robin (January 18, 1998). "Expanding the canvas for public art: Agitator Buster Simpson's works are of the people, and for the people". The Seattle Times. p. M1. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  2. Graves, Jen (September 20, 2013). "Buster Simpson arrives in Seattle and makes his first eco-art installation downtown, with fellow artist Chris Jonic, beginning on December 4, 1973". HistoryLink. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  3. Farr, Sheila (June 18, 2013). "Enter the Woodman: The Frye Recaps the Career of Eco-Artist Buster Simpson". Seattle Met. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  4. Graves, Jen (July 10, 2013). "The Outside Artist". The Stranger. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  5. Ayers, Robert (July 5, 2013). "Celebrating artist Buster Simpson's 'sky's the limit' spirit". The Seattle Times. p. E23. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  6. Miller, Brian (July 30, 2013). "Visual Arts: Buster Simpson at the Frye". Seattle Weekly. Archived from the original on November 24, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  7. "Buster Simpson". www.bustersimpson.net. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  8. "Environmental Artist Buster Simpson Wins PAN Award". Blouin Artinfo Canada. Louise Blouin Media. June 25, 2009. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
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