There’s more than meets the eye in Richard Hunt’s sculpture at Romare Bearden Park.
by Michael J. Solender
If you’re heading uptown for a Knights game, concert or fireworks this summer, pause for a moment to admire Richard Hunt’s soaring sculpture in Romare Bearden Park.
Nearly 30 feet tall and weighing four tons, this swirling tornado of stainless steel is the Chicago sculptor’s tribute to his longtime friend and fellow artist Romare Bearden.
Spiral Odyssey was commissioned by the Arts & Science Council and installed in 2017 at the southern end of Bearden Park — Charlotte’s own homage to its native son.
At the sculpture’s dedication, Hunt spoke of the symbolism in the piece and his deep respect for Bearden. “The ‘odyssey’ in the title, refers to Bearden’s series of works inspired by Homer’s epic poem,” he said. “It also speaks to Bearden’s personal journey.”
“Spiral” is a nod to the Spiral Group, a Black artists’ collective that Bearden co-founded in 1963. The group focused on supporting and advancing African American abstract art, a cause Hunt said he directly benefited from.
Hunt, who died in 2023, enjoyed a decades-long friendship with Bearden. In 1971, the two held solo exhibitions concurrently at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art — the first contemporary African American artists to do so.
Designed to be appreciated from every angle, Spiral Odyssey incorporates an Archimedean spiral that radiates outward as it climbs, symbolizing the circular nature of progress. The base, shaped like a ship’s bow, suggests both forward momentum and the suffering endured during the Middle Passage. Viewers may also spot abstract sea birds and ocean creatures playing among the skyward-reaching waves of reflective steel.
“Sometimes it is not about making art,” Hunt said, referencing his body of work. “Sometimes it is about making statements about culture and history — or history and culture — through art.”
Spiral Odyssey seems to suggest to viewers: Dream big, then soar to achieve those dreams. SP
Photographs by Sharon Smith
