Tag: monument

LaToya Ruby Frazier at Gladstone Gallery

In a time when public monuments and memorials are being reconsidered, LaToya Ruby Frazier’s Carnegie Prize Winning installation ‘More Than Conquerors: A Monument for Community Health Workers of Baltimore, Maryland 2021-2022,’ is a model for way forward, not by not singling out one achiever but by lauding a community of heroic individuals who dedicate their personal and work lives to helping others access better health care.  Now on view at Gladstone Gallery, in Chelsea, the artwork features photos of and interviews with eighteen individuals like Kendra Lindsey.  A carer for her family since she was a child, Lindsey was inspired to start a health and wellness business, become an auxiliary police officer and support local community groups in addition to working as a community health worker.  As a tribute and an act of advocacy for appropriate pay, ‘More than Conquerors’ is a moving and illuminating look into the lives and motivations of an under-appreciated yet vital workforce.  (On view through April 15th).

LaToya Ruby Frazier, ‘More Than Conquerors: A Monument for Community Health Workers of Baltimore, Maryland 2021-2022’, 18 stainless steel IV poles, 66 archival inkjet prints, dimensions available, 2022.

Do Ho Suh at Lehmann Maupin Gallery

Historic monuments are a hot topic today, but Do Ho Suh’s engagement with public sculpture goes back decades, questioning what and who we memorialize.  Over twenty years ago, he crafted a large pedestal, empty on top but supported by scores of tiny sculptures of people holding up the base, suggesting that it takes the efforts of many to elevate select individuals.  Now, the new sculpture ‘Inverted Pedestal,’ the first piece to greet visitors to his exhibition at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, offers a pedestal that appears to have swallowed the figure meant to be honored.  Created from extruded plastic material, the piece’s transparent mesh surface allows visitors to see a figure, not displayed in glory but suspended upside down and hidden.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 29th.)

Do Ho Suh, Inverted Monument, PETg, stainless steel, 98.43 x 79.72 x 79.72 inches, 2022.

David Shrigley at Doris C. Freedman Plaza

David Shrigley explores a new side of the banal with his monumental stone ‘Memorial,’ a tongue-in-cheek celebration of the short-lived usefulness of the shipping list. (Presented by the Public Art Fund at the entrance to Central Park at 60th Street and Fifth Ave, through Feb 12th).

David Shrigley, installation view of ‘Memorial’ at Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, 60th Street and 5th Ave, Nov 2016.
David Shrigley, installation view of ‘Memorial’ at Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, 60th Street and 5th Ave, Nov 2016.

Rob Pruitt at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise

Energized by the inauguration of President Obama in 2008, New York artist-provocateur Rob Pruitt started painting a picture of the president daily, sourcing his images from the news. All paintings completed up to the start of the show are included at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, where this unusual monument to the nation’s leader and to Pruitt’s endurance will be on view through the end of the week. (On the Lower East Side through Dec 18th).

Rob Pruitt, installation view of ‘The Obama Paintings,’ at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise on the Lower East Side, November 2016.
Rob Pruitt, installation view of ‘The Obama Paintings,’ at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise on the Lower East Side, November 2016.

Andrea Robbins & Max Becher at Sonnabend Gallery

Famous for photographing evidence of cultural mixing/cross-over, artist duo Robbins and Becher travelled the country shooting images of Ten Commandment sculptures, some of which have sparked controversy when placed on public property. Here, the world’s largest version features letters five feet high. (At Chelsea’s Sonnabend Gallery through Oct 25th.)

Andrea Robbins and Max Becher, Fields of the Wood, Murphy, North Carolina.