Five Rings for Philly Joe

Jazz and the blues were an integral part of African American sculptor John Scott’s childhood in New Orleans.  For him, these art forms uniquely integrated African musical practices with Western instruments and traditions.  Scott's goals as a visual artist derive from the music, particularly from its ability to reach a broader audience and strengthen the connections that link all human experience.

This hanging sculpture, created expressly for this site, is a tribute to legendary Philadelphia drummer Philly Joe Jones.  Its five rings, cut through by horizontal sticks, allude to a five-drum set up.  Vibrant colors flicker across its surfaces, evoking jazz's syncopated rhythms.  Like many of his contemporaries, Scott adapts industrial materials for his art.  Here he has used aluminum and stainless steel cable, coated with clear auto enamel. 

Commissioned by the Pennsylvania Convention Center