David Adickes, artist behind Sam Houston Statue, 'We Love Houston' signs, looks back on his career

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- You may not know his name, but you definitely know his art.

David Adickes is legendary for his giant talent and even more for his giant steel and concrete artworks.

From his colorful "We Love Houston" signs that will now greet visitors at Hobby and Bush airports to huge images of the Beatles in East Downtown.

Growing up in Huntsville, Adickes studied art in Paris after WWII and has worked in every art form, even music. For decades, he was known for his colorful paintings. Then, a local developer asked him to do something different for the Lyric Center in the downtown arts center.

"Quite frankly, there are a lot of collectors in the Houston area who knew him before he started the sculptures as strictly a painter, and then the first commission to do a large sculpture came along, and he kind of shifted gears," Linda Wiley, Adickes' life partner, said. "And so then there's a whole other group of people who know him primarily as a sculptor and are unaware of the extensive work he's done in painting."

Adickes' biggest sculpture can be seen from six miles away. Texas hero Sam Houston stands 67 feet tall just outside of his hometown of Huntsville.

"He was invited to go to one of the planning meetings for the bicentennial celebration of Sam Houston's birth. And David got up, and said, 'I propose a 10-foot or 10 times life-size statue,' and just like, 'OK, well yeah,'" Wiley said.

But the 25-ton Sam Houston, built from a steel frame and five layers of concrete, was dwarfed by another jaw-dropping series of sculptures. The heads of 43 American presidents - from Washington to Obama. Adickes says it was after he took a trip to Mount Rushmore.

"The idea came to me, wouldn't it be great to do the presidents? Not just four, but all of them," Adickes said. "I'd already done George Bush senior and junior."

It took years to complete the 20-foot-high presidential heads, and they were finally shown as a set in 2003. First in South Dakota, close to Mount Rushmore. Then, in 2004, a second set in Williamsburg, Virgina.

Right now, his studio is home to a sometimes eerie-looking collection of presidential heads in a Heights neighborhood.

So far, no one has agreed to buy and display all 43, but local collectors like attorney Tony Buzbee have bought some editions. He had six sculptures moved to his ranch last month.

"Linda's exactly right, there's not bluebonnets and horns. I do think he's a very important part of the story of art in this town and in the state," Mary Adickes Van Pelt, David Adickes' daughter, said.

When asked what would he like for his legacy to be, he answered, "That it's good work that I contributed to the well-being of the planet in a small way, very small way."

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