Lewis Cole "Buster" Simpson (born in 1942) is an American sculptor and environmental artist based in Seattle, Washington.
Career
Lewis Cole Simpson was born in Saginaw, Michigan and raised in a nearby farming community. He became interested in art while attending junior college in Flint and attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, graduating in 1969 with a master in fine arts. After graduating, Simpson joined other artists at the Woodstock Festival in New York state, helping build play areas for festivalgoers.
Simpson caught the attention of glass artist Dale Chihuly in 1971 while giving a talk at the Rhode Island School of Design and invited him to join the new Pilchuck Glass School near Stanwood, Washington. Two years later, Simpson moved to Seattle and began his work in "recycled art" at a studio in Pioneer Square. During the 1970s, Simpson created several pieces of public art along Post Alley near Pike Place Market, utilizing materials from dumpsters and thrift shops for Shared Clothesline and discarded bottles as scrap glass for 90 Pine Show and Counterparts. He also developed an alter ego, named "Woodman", used during street performances while scavenging for materials.
During the 1980s, Simpson engaged in "agitprop" work, including dropping soft limestone blocks in the headwaters of the Hudson River that was dubbed by the media as "River Rolaids". Simpson was later commissioned by institutions and governments across the United States and Canada to create public art to display in cities. Simpson was given his first career retrospective in 2013 at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, called Buster Simpson: Surveyor.
In 2019, Buster Simpson was included in two group exhibitions exploring the material glass as vehicle for sculpture, in painting and as tool of conceptual inspiration - An Alternative History: The Other Glass, in New York City and As In Also: An Alternative Too, in Seattle - each organized by artist, published author and independent curator John Drury.
Works
+Art in Public Places TITLELOCATIONCITYSTATE/COUNTRYYEARNOTESIMAGEDiviningLatta Plantation Nature Preserve Visitor CenterHuntersvilleNorth Carolina2018Wickiup Overlook & EncampmentPearsall ParkSan AntonioTexas2016Discombobulated DiscourseDuwamish RevealedSeattleWashington2015Orange Lining & Impressed ConcreteTriMet Orange LinePortlandOregon2015Collaboration with Peg ButlerCradleSouth Waterfront ParkPortlandOregon2015Offering CycleAnchorageAlaska2014Anthropocene BeachElliott Bay Seawall Habitat ProjectSeattleWashingtonIn ProgressVernacularBellevue Regional LibraryBellevueWashington2013PresenceSalt Lake City Public Safety BuildingSalt Lake CityUtah2013AerieUS Army Corps of Engineers HQSeattleWashington2012Oculus SolOld Town CenterIndioCalifornia2012Carbon VeilSeaTac International Airport Rental Car FacilitySeattleWashington2012Dekumstruction Bike CorralAdjacent to Breakside Brewery/NEPortlandOregon2012Collaboration with Peg ButlerBio Boulevard & Water MoleculeBrightwater Treatment FacilityWoodinvilleWashington2011Flamingo Arroyo Flamingo Arroyo TrailheadLas VegasNevada2010Collaboration with Barbara Grygutis, Kevin BerryCloke PlazaUniversity of MaineOronoMaine2010Bucket BrigadeEast Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District HQPortlandOregon2009Collaboration with Peg ButlerWhole FlowWhole FoodsPasadenaCalifornia2009Instrument Implement: Walla Walla CampanileWilliam A. Grant Water & Environmental CenterWalla WallaWashington2008Poetic LicenseWilliam A. Grant Water & Environmental CenterWalla WallaWashington2008Ice BladeOlympic Oval BridgeRichmondBritish Columbia, Canada2008ParableSound Transit, Mount Baker StationSeattleWashington2008Tempe Light Rail Transit BridgeTempeArizona2007The MonolithTurtle Bay Exploration CenterReddingCalifornia2005RosettaraayMerck-RosettaSeattleWashington2004Ping Pong PlazaMerck-RosettaSeattleWashington2004Beckoning CisternGrowing Vine Street Seattle Washington2003Mobius BandPuget Sound Environmental Learning CenterBainbridge IslandWashington2002PortalWashington State UniversityPullman Washington2001Water Glass & Water TableEllington CondominiumSeattleWashington2001MomentHarbor StepsSeattleWashington2000Brush with IlluminationFalse CreekVancouverBritish Columbia, Canadaupdated 2009Parapet RelayUniversity of Washington/Tacoma CampusTacomaWashington1997King Street GardensAlexandria Virginia1997Collaboration with Laura Sindell, Mark Spitzer, Becca HansonOffering Hat, Drinking Cup and Illuminated BoatKansas City Public Health Facility Kansas CityMissouri1997Fenceline Artifact and Prairie WagonDenver International AirportDenverColorado1994Exchanger FountainAnaheim Redevelopment AgencyAnaheimCalifornia1993Host AnalogOregon Convention CenterPortlandOregon1991Seattle George MonumentSeattle Convention CenterSeattle Washington1989 +Temporary Installations or Art ActionsTITLELOCATIONCITYSTATE/COUNTRYYEARNOTESIMAGEPurge SeriesHudson River and other locationsNew York1983–PresentShared ClotheslineBelltownSeattle Washington1978Lundeberg Derby MonumentSeattleWashington
2009 Public Art Network Award from Americans for the Arts
References
External links
Buster Simpson: Surveyor