Fallen Comrade is sculptor David Greenwood’s stylized interpretation of a P-51 “Mustang”, a fighter plane that played a dominant role in World War II air battles. Resting in a natural wooded hollow, it now gleans only glimpses of open sky. Its site promotes a gentle, harmonious sensation. Greenwood has designed his plane to create a spiritual, dream-like impression. David Greenwood constructed Secret Passion in 2002 for MLAP. Though both sculptures seem to suggest stories, Fallen Comrade possesses untold legends, perhaps hundreds of them.
This sculpture is, in part, a tribute to the valor and skill of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the African American squadron of fighter pilots whose World War II record was heroic on two fronts–in air combat as well as in breaking the barriers of racism in the U.S. military. Prior to their service, no black pilots had been allowed in the ranks of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Trained at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, they met the highest standards in qualifying to serve their county as pilots despite the imposition of restrictions designed to exclude them. Many of the Tuskegee Airmen returned after the war to reside in Michigan. This sculpture prompts us to remember those who fought for our personal and national freedom even as they were denied their own.
The P-51 is a great example of engineering and technical genius, a valuable component of the evolution of aviation. Mustangs were flown by numerous other Army Air Corps divisions. The P-51 “Red Tails” serve as the distinctive insignia of the Tuskegee squadron. The physical elements of the once mighty Mustang are silenced... poignant, earthbound. Questions still fly. Who was the pilot, the Icarus, who defied the forces of sun and gravity? Each pilot was young. Each pilot saw and felt what few others can ever know; yet repeatedly climbed back into the fragile plane.
Why is Fallen Comrade in an art park of natural trails? Because it exemplifies a range of human experiences, from the youth dreaming of flying to the mature engineers, fabricators, pilots, and, yes, artists. Notice how the artist does not simply illustrate the military function of the P-51 but interprets its historical reverberations in a way that can ignite the viewer’s imagination. The sculpture provokes challenges to every thoughtful visitor.
Fallen Comrade is a prime example of how expressive contemporary sculpture can salvage fresh, even mystical experiences from history.
Imagine a boat being built in the forest. You come upon its partially completed hull just as the shipwright has taken a break, leaving his tools and refreshmenton a nearby ladder. Through this juxtaposition of place and product David Greenwood encourages the viewer to reflect "on the beauty of boat forms, on the forests from which wooden boats are made, and on the humorous absurdity of a boat being build in secret so far from water."
The sculpture is derived from the "boat works series" Greenwood has been creating off and on since 1983. It is based on a 21-foot double-ended sloop design but is more linear. The structural "transparency" of Secret Passion allows vegetation to grow into and through the piece, integrating it with the site.
David Greenwood
David Greenwood is a Michigan artist whose art and influence are recognized throughout his home state and the world. While Professor of Fine Arts and Foundation at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids he has been awarded two Fulbright grants and worked in Poland, Yugoslavia, Serbia, England and Jordan.
A true artist-educator David has created and taught in such prestigious institutions as Virginia Commonwealth University, South Carolina’s School for the Arts and Cleveland State University. Here In Michigan he has served on the faculties of Hope College, Grand Valley State, and the Oxbow Summer School of Art. Sculpture is just one art form in which David Greenwood creates. He also is a recognized performance artist, having presented works in Sarajevo, Zagreb, Paris, Chicago, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Ohio and Michigan.
Fallen Comrade, 2009
