Mae West, 2010

Rita McBride is an American sculptor who is especially famous for her large scale sculptures. She attended Bard College in New York and went on to attend California Institute of the Arts where she received her MFA. She lives and works in both Los Angeles, and Dusseldorf, Germany and is a professor at The Kunstakademie, Dusseldorf, where she has also been appointed director. One of her latest pieces, a large scale sculpture calledMae West,is 170 ft high and is located in Munich, Germany. Mae West took 9 years from the initial stages of planning to the finished piece which is constructed of carbon fiber reinforced plastic. This piece and others display McBride's thorough knowledge and creative implementation of different material. Another example of her most famous work,Arena,was completed in 1997 and represents the piece that is most displayed throughout the world. Arena is a stadium like structure made of wood and fiberglass. This sculpture encourages the public to interact with it by sitting on it and even re-configuring it. The design of the structure implies a stage in front of it and is often used in conjunction with displays or performances. McBride's large scale artwork is often found in public industrial settings and plays of off other structures in the vicinity. Everyday structures, both large and small, that we often overlook, provide a point of inspiration for her sculptures. (Artist website)