Sun God Gets A Makeover

Niki de Saint Phalle’s first outdoor sculpture in America is in good hands.

Image by UCSD Alumni

If you’ve been on campus in the last couple of weeks, you might have noticed Sun God is no longer the colorful, shining deity we’ve come to know and love. The fourteen-foot bird, created by Niki de Saint Phalle in 1983, sits atop its concrete perch stripped of its paint, naked and faceless — and without its golden crown.

Fear not.

Sun God isn’t the victim of art vandalism or, worse, a relentless barrage of seagull poop. It’s undergoing a meticulous restoration process to ensure its polychromatic holiness never fades.

After noticing small cracks in the paint from years of exposure to salty air and unruly weather, the team at The Stuart Collection, who are “responsible for the condition of all the works on campus” at UC San Diego, set out to restore the sculpture to its original state.

Such a project involves sanding Sun God down to its original layer of paint, removing the surface damage, applying several layers of primer and acrylic paint then sealing the painted plaster with multiple coats of clear coat, Mary Beebe, the Director of The Stuart Collection, told me.

“The crown will also get all new 24 carat gold leaf,” she added.

The Stuart Collection selected La Paloma Fine Arts to carry out the restoration, citing the company’s unrivaled familiarity with Saint Phalle’s artwork. When, in 1998, Sun God underwent its first restoration, La Paloma Fine Arts worked side by side with the artist in reviving the sculpture. Saint Phalle died in 2002.

Niki de Saint Phalle’s “Sun God” (Image by The Stuart Collection)

La Paloma Fine Arts will utilize documents from the first restoration and the artist’s original sketches to paint the sculpture exactly as Saint Phalle did in 1983.

“We have extensive notebooks from the last restoration and of the surface damage. They will help guide this restoration,” said Beebe. “The maquette for the work is in the Chancellor’s office so we also know the exact colors.”

Although it’s hard to say exactly when the restoration will be finished, craftsmen for La Paloma Fine Arts are making progress quickly and little by little Sun God is regaining its color. A program representative for The Stuart Collection estimated the project could be complete as early as July 18, though no official date has been set.

With the restoration completed, Beebe said she “[hopes] Sun God won't need another restoration for the next 20 years or so.” Which, for students, means another 20 years of walking backwards under its foliage-covered archway in the hopes that — with a bit of divine intervention — we’ll ace all* of our finals.

*OK at least more than half