MIAMI BEACH, FL (August 13, 2008)―Can’t get to Beijing for the Olympics? Not to worry. You can get close to the action by visiting The Wolfsonian-FIU’s lobby area at no charge. A 6’6’’ tall aluminum sculpture from the museum’s collection that was created in 1929 by Dudley Vaill Talcott and debuted at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics greets visitors—a perfect picture spot. When this work was displayed in 1932, it embodied America's rising eminence in industry, in design, and in the will to envision the future.

There are also a bunch of cool wrestler souvenirs you can purchase at the museum’s Dynamo Shop, including a key chain ($19), and a mini-sculpture of the “hulky” wrestler ($65).

More details on the Wrestler:

At the end of the 1920s, American artists were faced with competing modes of visual modernity. Modern styling based on French applied arts was the mode of choice for architects and interior designers such as Raymond Hood and Norman Bel Geddes. Academic sculptors such as Paul Manship and Lee Lawrie interpreted pre-classical Greek figures for their commissions at Rockefeller Center. Science fiction culture, inspired by such films as Metropolis, introduced robots into the public's imagination and encouraged an ever-growing fascination with technology and machines. New alloys and processes resulting in products such as Bakelite and aluminum allowed artists to express modernity through materials alone.

The Wrestler by Dudley Talcott is a blend of all of these modernist idioms. The planer, geometric hips are worked in a jazzy, ziggurat style. The exaggerated muscularity of the body without a face is an iconic figure smoothed by modernist streamlining. The cast-aluminum process and the robot form combine in a futuristic fantasy of the power of the machine.

About The Wolfsonian–Florida International University
The Wolfsonian–FIU is a museum and research center that uses objects to illustrate the persuasive power of art and design to explore what it means to be modern, and to tell the story of social, political, and technological changes that have transformed the world. The approximately 120,000 artifacts that comprise The Wolfsonian collection range from fine art, graphic design, and political propaganda to furniture, rare books, and ephemeral materials such as postcards and travel brochures. Since opening to the public just ten years ago, The Wolfsonian has developed and disseminated critically acclaimed exhibitions, publications, and educational programs that highlight the impact of design in shaping the modern world. Its vast patrimony of primary source materials provides unparalleled opportunities for scholarship and appreciation, making it a unique resource for local, national, and international audiences.

The Wolfsonian is located at 1001 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, Fla. Admission is $7 adults; $5 seniors, students, and children six-12; free for Wolfsonian members, State University System of Florida staff and students with ID, children under six, and Miami Beach residents with ID. The museum is open Monday, Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday from noon-6pm; Thursday and Friday from noon-9pm; and is closed on Wednesday. Contact us at 305.531.1001 or visit us online at www.wolfsonian.org.

The Wolfsonian receives ongoing support from the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; Crispin Porter + Bogusky; Continental Airlines, the Official Airline of The Wolfsonian; the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation; and Pistils & Petals.

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