Westword reports that Lawrence Argent, the artist who created the oversized blue bear outside the Denver Convention Center, has died.
Born in England in 1957, Argent "died suddenly in Denver on Oct. 4, 2017," according to art historian Michael Paglia. The artist died after a surgery, 9News reported.
Argent was perhaps best known locally for the bear, titled "I See What You Mean," but his work can be found around the world, including several other giant, polygonal animals.
Earlier this year, he told Denverite that the bear's blue color was something of an accident. Blue happened to be the color of the plastic in the 3D printer that produced a miniature prototype of the bear. A previous design had said the bear might be stainless steel.
“And then I realized, ‘We have to do it this way,'” he recalled.
So he worked in reverse, trying to “convince (the convention center authorities) that I wanted it in blue.” He ended up finding justification in the color of the sky, the role of blue in European royalty and its meaning to the Ute society.
This was how he saw the world, finding meaning and beauty from unexpected places.
"There are very many serendipitous occasions that this is how the energy of the world flows," he said.
For more on Argent's life and legacy, read Paglia's obituary of Argent at Westword.
