KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Claes Oldenburg, co-creator of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s staple gigantic shuttlecock sculptures, has passed away at the age of 93, the museum announced in a Tweet.
Oldenburg and his wife, Coosje van Bruggen, were selected to design a gigantic sculpture for the museum in 1994.
The artists are known for creating large replica sculptures of everyday objects.
“Our sculptures reflect both the surroundings and their context, but through our imagination and selective perception – which is what makes them also personal,” the couple’s official website says.
The duo designed the sculptures imagining the museum as the badminton net, and the lawn as the field. The sculptures were positioned as if they had landed on the opposite side of the net.
Each of the iconic Kansas City sculptures weighs 5,500 lbs and is 18 feet tall.
