Embracing the Creativity of Art and Science

Darwin’s Playground is a series of three sculptures, ranging in height from 3-12 feet. Constructed of polyurethane covered with fiberglass, the sculptures are a striking focal point for the IGB plaza. The bright colors and whimsical shapes capture the creativity of biologists, and put to form a radical view of the role modern biologists play in shaping, and even creating, life. They were created by Chicago Artist Tony Tasset and were dedicated in September 2007.

Tasset has been exhibiting his art in galleries and museums in the United States and abroad for over 22 years. He has works in the collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, The MCA Chicago, MOCA Los Angeles, The Baltimore Museum, The San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Museum Fur Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt, Germany. In addition, Tasset has public commissions in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and University Park, IL. A 2006 winner of a Guggenheim fellowship, he is also a professor in the College of Architecture and the Arts at the University of Illinois at Chicago.