The most devoted couple on campus? That would be the Antillean Couple, a 15–foot–tall cast bronze sculpture near the entrance of Urban Outfitters. Looming like a pair of totems over pedestrians at 36th and Sansom, the Antillean Couple has quite a history. It arrived at Penn in 1999 as a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Loria, who also donated the King Solomon statue and Robert Indiana's “Love” sculpture. It was created many years before, though, in 1957 by Agustin Cardenas, a Cuban–born artist who mixed with the Surrealists in 1950s Paris. Works like the Antillean Couple prove that even in his European environment, Cardenas did not shed his background and heritage; the sculpture gets its name from Antillia, the supposedly lost Caribbean island that was the target of many a 15th century expedition. Despite the Couple’s threatening heads, which almost seem to be armored with horns, the sculpture is sensual, with curves and cavities that suggest features like the tuck of a waist. So if you have time after your next Cosi lunch, take a minute to inspect these abstract, elongated figures. After 50 years together, they have plenty to share.
Campus Gems: Antillean Couple
