Artwork Detail

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Octopus

Artist: Dominguez, Benjamin

Date: 1961

Medium: Concrete, steel, and paint

Artwork Dimensions: 108 x 144 x 120 in.

County Department: Parks and Recreation

Artwork Site: Whittier Narrows Recreation Area

Supervisorial District: 1

Location Status: Permanent

About the Artwork:

Surrounding Legg Lake in Whittier Narrows Recreation Area are six fantastical aquatic-themed cast concrete sculptures created by Mexican American artist Benjamin Dominguez (1894-1974). The artworks include Starfish, Octopus, Fish, Tripod, Mother Dragon and Two-Headed Dragon. These sculptures represent a movement in the early 1960s of modern parks being seen as museums where the public could enjoy arts and crafts of the community. Children were invited to actively participate in the sculptures' whimsical and non-prescribed designs, allowing children to use their imaginations as they play. The sculptures have been beloved for decades. In 2016 they were conserved and repainted so that generations more children can enjoy them.

About the Artist:

Benjamin Dominguez was born in Guanajuato, Mexico in 1894. He trained as an artist specializing in concrete at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas (National Academy of Plastic Arts) of the University of Mexico from 1922-25. He created many works in Mexico, including animal landscapes for the Chapultepec Mexico City Zoo. At the age of 62 he immigrated to the United States with his family. It was in the United States that Dominguez constructed imaginative and playful sculptures for children’s playgrounds found in Vincent Lugo Park in San Gabriel, California, Atlantis Play Center in Garden Grove, California, and the Las Vegas Desert Inn Golf Course (since removed). Benjamin Dominquez worked throughout his life and died in 1974 at the age of 80.