About George Segal (artist)
George Segal (November 26, 1924 – June 9, 2000) was an American sculptor and painter associated with the pop art movement. He was presented with the United States National Medal of Arts in 1999. == Works == Although Segal started his art career as a painter, his best known works are cast life-size figures and the tableaux the figures inhabited. In place of traditional casting techniques, Segal pioneered the use of plaster bandages (plaster-impregnated gauze strips designed for making orthopedic casts) as a sculptural medium. In this process, he first wrapped a model with bandages in sections, then removed the hardened forms and put them back together with more plaster to form a hollow shell. These forms were not used as molds; the shell itself became the final sculpture, including the rough texture of the bandages. Initially, Segal kept the sculptures stark white, but late in life he began painting them, usually in bright monochrome colors. Eventually he started having the final forms cast in bronze, sometimes patinated white to resemble the original plaster. Segal had several major public commissions, notably a memorial for the Kent State University killing by national guardsman in 1970. Kent State viewed his conception as controversial, and never erected it.
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