Art
An Initial Reaction to the WTC Waterfalls
Waterfalls now cascade and soothe at Ground Zero. Actually, the word “ground zero” may soon wither into an anachronism because the new memorial is a stunning work of art in its own right.
Public Art
Art
Does Size Count in Public Art?
On March 24, 2004 in Johannesburg, South Africa, a mammoth sculpture of legendary former president and icon Nelson Mandela was unveiled. Over 15 feet tall, this sculpture was commissioned to stand in the center of Nelson Mandela square in Sandton City, an upscale shopping mall in a well-to-do part o
Art
Public Art Erections
Washington, DC — “Dub poet Mutabaruka found it necessary to argue, in a public contribution on the subject, that the statue [Emancipation Monument], which represents a woman and a man, both nude standing in a pool of water and looking upward as a symbolic representation of the spiritual emancipation
Opinion
On Bombshells and Public Art
A new Marilyn Monroe sculpture went up in Chicago but homegrown reaction to the sculpture has been "almost uniformly negative" … though you wouldn't know if you were checking Flickr.
Art
Seattle Injects Some Excitement into Public Installation Art
Mad Homes is a fascinating lo-fi community approach to public installation. A local nonprofit, Mad Art, invited 14 artists to create interventions in homes that are soon to be demolished in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. The result is a mixture of installations that consume, infiltrate and sur
Art
Understatement Surrounds City Hall
City Hall Park is an excellent venue for Sol Lewitt’s sculptures. In the white cube, the problem is that the artist’s three dimensional structures can blend in precariously well with the similarly minimal geometric space, camouflaging their distinctiveness from the viewer. It is good to see Lewitt’s
Art
The (Other) C-Word
Quick—what’s the dirtiest word you can think of? The one that makes people the most uncomfortable? The one you wouldn’t dare say at a party for fear you’ll spend the rest of the evening alone in a corner with everyone around you doing their best to
Art
Dancing Up a Storm on the High Line
Minutes before the much-admired postmodern choreographer Trisha Brown was to stage her early 1973 “Roof Piece” on Thursday, June 9, the High Line’s urban park rangers and the stage managers of Trisha Brown’s Dance Company began to panic. An upstaging performance by a potentially show-stopping tornad
Opinion
Digging Up the Roses on Park Avenue
This week, Will Ryman's "The Roses" installation along Park Avenue are saying bye bye. But when I spotted them yesterday all dug up with their "roots" exposed, I thought it somehow completed the work.
Art
Can't-Miss NY Art Events For This Weekend
Even with New York City's constantly-full calendar of art events, this weekend is packed with shows, activities and sights for the whole family to enjoy. Check out the Festival of New Ideas around the New Museum, plus their Condo show ending this weekend, and see a new public sculpture by sculptor J
News
UPDATED: Ai Weiwei's Zodiac Unveiled, Mayor Bloomberg Applauds Artist's Courage
Today's rain may have put a damper on the unveiling of Ai Weiwei's “Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads” (2009) at the Pulitzer Fountain, located at Central Park South and Fifth Avenue, but what certainly cast a pall over the event was the artist's own absence. After over a month since his arrest by the
News
Tom Otterness Explains His Public Subway Art
Every wondered what the story was behind those bronze sculptures populating the 8th Ave/14th St ACE subway station? In this video, their creator, Tom Otterness, explains that he took the imagery for the sculptures from Gilded Age political cartoons. Too bad the artist is currently in some political