bp

The recessed copper sculpture by Tom Bass, set into the old P&O Building at 55 Hunter Street between Elizabeth and Castlereagh, is a very cool early work with a long organic shape. In the 1960s, the ‘fountain’ was irreverently depicted as a urinal on the cover of Oz magazine, sparking an obscenity trial in which Tom Bass testified for the magazine. Two other works by Australian sculptor Tom Bass can be found in Circular Quay: ‘Research’, on the north wall of the Pullman Quay Grand hotel, and ‘Amicus Certus’ on Alfred Street’s AMP building. The Tom Bass Sculpture Studio School in Erskineville holds exhibitions of his art and that of his disciples.