This entry is recorded by Julie Maguire, Green Box Board Advisor, Visual Art & Director, Brett Weston Archive
Communication X9
By Yaacov Agam
* Communication X9 was created by Israeli artist Yaacov Agam in 1983 and is a beloved artwork that for decades was on display on Chicago's Magnificent Mile.
* This summer, Green Box welcomes this colorful and diverse work to its new home at Mountain Road Corner
* Standing at an impressive 43-feet-tall, the stainless-steel tower changes appearances as you move around its three sides.
Yaccov Agam is a truly unique, creative force in the world of art. His works transcend traditional artistic boundaries, propelling him into the forefront of a new art aesthetic. Art critics and art historians in museums and institutions throughout the world have acclaimed him for his inventive, talented genius, bestowing upon him numerous awards and honors. Agam is certainly among the world's foremost artists, and he is already recognized as influential and important in the history of art.
The son of an Orthodox Rabbi, scholar and writer, Agam was born on May 11, 1928 in Rishon Letzion, Israel. As a child, he began to draw, despite religious proscription against visual expression. Agam's family recognized his artistic ability and, in 1946, he entered the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. Studying with Mordecai Ardon, a former student at the Weimar Bauhaus, he discovered the differences between other cultures which stress the afterlife and the Hebrew culture which emphasizes the present. Because Judaism believes life is dynamic and ever-changing, Agam determined that static paintings were inadequate to express the constantly occurring changes which surround us.