As acclaimed artist Mark di Suvero said recently about his “Ave Delirio” (2001): “It’s the movement that’s the thing. Commotion gives it life.”

The U-M Museum of Art (UMMA) has unveiled the exterior sculpture “Ave Delirio” (2001), just north of UMMA. It was loaned by the artist courtesy of Spacetime C.C. and the Hill Gallery in Birmingham. The site is where the museum’s new $35 million addition will be built. The more than 17-foot-tall steel and stainless steel piece will be on view for approximately 18 months leading up to the groundbreaking of the museum’s expansion and renovation project.

“Many collectors and curators, myself included, feel that Mark di Suvero is one of the two most important sculptors of the second half of the 20th century,” says UMMA Director James Steward. “Mark shares this museum’s vision of engaging everyone—and particularly our students—in the world of the visual arts, and I’m honored that Mark has chosen to share his work with us so generously.”

Di Suvero intends “Ave Delirio,” like all his large-scale work, to be viewed from a variety of angles and positions, so the artist pays careful attention to composition, balance of forms and capacity for movement. Pedestrians and ambient activity play an important role in experiencing the piece.

Often classified as an Abstract Expressionist sculptor, di Suvero has described his own work as “painting in three dimensions.” Exhibitions of his sculpture have been mounted in museums and galleries around the world since the 1960s and his work is represented in most of the world’s leading collections of modern art, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. (Photo by Marcia Ledford, U-M Photo Services)