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.)
