Your friend comes to visit Minneapolis for the weekend and asks for the ultimate tour of the city. It's a good bet your excursion won't be complete until you snap a few poses in front of the iconic "Spoonbridge and Cherry."

Minnesotans are intimately familiar with the centerpiece of the Walker's sculpture garden –but what about the artist behind the work?

A trip to the Walker these days is more than just a visit to an art museum. Rather, it's a journey into the mind of one of Pop Art's most iconic artists (and the man behind that beloved Minneapolis sculpture): Claes Oldenburg.

"The Sixties" is the largest exhibition of work from what scholar's consider the artist's seminal period. The European-organized show will make its second, and final, American stop at the Walker Art Center after coming from New York's MoMA.

The 84-year-old artist is perhaps best known for making "soft sculptures." Floppy, oversized renditions of ice cream cones, BLT sandwiches and outlets (which the show is surely at no shortage of).

More uniquely, the show offers a glimpse into the artist's mind. Never before seen collages, notebook sketches, magazine clippings home movies and personal snapshots hang alongside recognized works such as "Shoestring Potatoes Spilling From a Bag."

The Skinny:

Fun Fact: More than 300 drawings, sculptures and memorabilia will fill 14,000 square feet of gallery space at the Walker.
“The Sixties”
Sept. 22 - Jan. 12
Walker Art Center
1750 Hennepin Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN
Details

After Hours: The Sixties
1960s-themed Oldenburg preview party
Saturday, Sept. 21, 10:30 p.m. - 1 a.m.
$30 ($20 Walker members)

Opening Day Talk with Claes Oldenburg
Sunday, Sept. 22, 2 p.m.
$25 ($20 Walker members)

The show will also include two rarely seen, walk-in environments: Mouse Museum and Ray Gun Wing. The former, a mouse head-shaped structure made out of black corrugated metal, houses items Oldenburg collected over the years: a toy camera, a child's coin purse and of course, several edible items represented in plastic. The latter is a collection of items the artist found shaped like (as the title suggests) ray guns.

What are you waiting for? If anything, go to learn a little more about the artist who brought us the sculpture of a spoon and cherry we all love.