Super Bowl LIII: All eyes on the world’s largest Falcon sculpture made by Hungarian artist
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At the most watched sporting event in the world, the Super Bowl, the largest free-standing avian sculpture makes its global debut!
More than 100 million people are glued to the screen during the Super Bowl, one of the most watched sporting events in the world, which is broadcast globally in 170 countries. It will be no different this year with Super Bowl LIII, which starts in a few days on the 3rd of February at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium (MBS).
In front of it stands the mighty sculpture of the Atlanta Falcon by internationally renowned artist, Gábor M. Szőke.
Szőke’s work was commissioned in 2017 by Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United, and the curatorial partner of the MBS Art Program, the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).
The stainless steel falcon is the largest free-standing avian sculpture in the world with a height of 41.5 ft, a wingspan of 72 ft, and a weight of 73 000 lbs. Szőke envisioned the predator’s prey to be a football. With its wings spread apart, it swoops down on the ball showing the steel falcon in the moment of touchdown. Similarly to previous works of the artist, the scale of the bronze football is also grandiose with a radius of 13 ft and weighing 8000 lbs.
Locals and the international press have described the public work as the heart of Atlanta. To realize its impressive proportions, it took 6 months of designing, 8 months of production, 5 months of installation, all in all 2 years with the involvement of 200 people.
The work was made in Gábor M. Szőke’s unique studio and showroom in Budapest. From there, it traveled for a month and a half on land and sea to Atlanta, where it was assembled and installed by his team comprising structural engineers, sculptors, welders and other expert contractors.
During the design process of the sculpture, Gábor M. Szőke was inspired by the fascinating history of the city of Atlanta, which has burnt to the ground, and risen from its ashes two times.