Catherine Hardwicke

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Catherine Hardwicke
Hollywood and La Brea Gateway
1993

Project Area: Hollywood
Project: Hollywood Boulevard Demonstration Project
Project Location: Traffic Island at intersection of Hollywood Blvd. and La Brea
Project Type: CRA Initiated

Description:

Sculptural four-sided gateway is an art-deco style gazebo with four stainless steel full length portraits of Hollywood actresses supporting an open roof structure. The actresses portrayed are Mae West, Dorothy Dandridge, Anna May Wong, and Dolores Del Rio. All four figures wear glamorous long gowns. Each figure stands on a square base. A spire rises from the top of the rounded, open gazebo roof. Neon lettering runs vertically down the four sides of the spire. At the top of the spire is a small gilded wind vane of Marilyn Monroe holding her billowing skirt in place. The plaza floor within the gazebo is granite tile mosaic patterned in the shape of a star.

Artist Profile

Catherine Hardwicke began her career as an architect. She spent most of the 1990s as a production designer, working on such films as Tombstone, Tank Girl, 2 Days in the Valley, and The Newton Boys. In 1999, Hardwicke designed the film Three Kings and the following year collaborated with director/screenwriter Cameron Crowe and actor/producer Tom Cruise on Vanilla Sky. The later two films are notable for their original use of color-manipulation techniques to complement the narrative. Hardwicke's first foray into film direction was in 2003 with the edgy, award-winning Thirteen. Hardwicke directed Lords of Dogtown, a fictionalized account of skateboarding culture in 2005 and the biblical film The Nativity Story for New Line Cinema in 2006. The artist lives and works out of Los Angeles.