Icy art

As The Times sometimes travel writer, I receive all kinds of interesting press releases from around the world.

One that arrived in my box this morning from Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley was especially intriguing.

It touts Canadian artist Gordon Halloran’s ground-breaking artwork "Museum of Modern Ice: "Paintings Below Zero."

Halloran, the release says, first developed his idea of painting on ice in the early ’90s. "I’ve always loved the way ice freezes, moves and forms," the artist said.

The paintings in Chicago’s Millennium Park are installed on an ice wall measuring 95-feet by 12 feet.

One side, visible from Michigan Avenue, echoes the city’s skyline.

The other is full of color, complexity and variety.

"... suggesting the living, natural world: mysterious and sensuous — is meant to be interactive and seen in close proximity. Its surface lit at night becomes an ornament against the winter sky. Halloran’s enormous ice wall evokes ‘a glacial wall in its final stages of movement towards collapse into the ocean,’" says the press release.

We must regret, but if you in the Chicago area and have a chance check it out, share your experience with us.

For more info: www.choosechicago.com/ice.