Cultural Sunday

We decided to spend the late afternoon going into Auburn and walking the town to see J.Seward Johnson’s sculptures that are on loan to the city through September.
These works of art are pieces of Americana that consist of one solid piece of painted bronze.
They are incredibly life like and if you come across one unawares, it takes you a second to distinguish statue from reality. The pictures don’t really do them justice, as you just have to see the detail and touch them to experience it yourself. Here’s a quote from the artist’s site:
"I use my art to convince you of something that isn't real. You laugh at yourself because you were taken in, and in that change of your perception, you become vulnerable to the piece and intimate with it in a certain way."
It’s true.
I’m no photographer and I’m certainly not on par with some of the bloggers that I’ve enjoyed pictures from, but here’s the gist of just a few that we encountered (I'm linking the pics instead of putting them here full size because they need to be viewed in all their awesome largeness).
We started at the courthouse on the square.
One of the hazards of taking a picture downtown from across the street in rural America is the traffic driving in front of you. I decided not to be a slacker and walked across the street to get a better picture of the sculpture named "Oops!"
Then off to the library where we saw "One Man's Search".
Next we saw "Crossing Paths" and I realized that my pictures weren't going to be able to show detail unless I took close ups of some parts that really amazed me and screamed of talent by the artist.
This one is "Between Appointments" and here's a closer view of the newspaper. I have no idea why I chose the newspaper, but don't fret. It gets better.
This one is named "Holier Than Thou" and MiniMe who is notorious for finding money, pointed out that there was money in his hat. I thought it was going to be part of the display...but nope. It was real change. Maybe it was still there because this sculpture was in front of the police station.
This one is called "Who's in Charge?" and I promise I do NOT have a thing for the butts of statues, but this wallet/pocket/belt shot really shows the detail down to the weave of the denim and the stitching.
Here is "Holding Out", reportedly the first display erected, and one that many a driver stopped for to let her cross the street. Her hands amazed me.
In all there were 20 sculptures, but I didn't put all of them here. Just the ones that didn't have throngs of people practically draped over them.