Daniel Buren in ‘Lightness of Being’ at City Hall Park

It’s going to be hard to appreciate major late 20th century minimalist Daniel Buren’s characteristic indoor painted installations after seeing his gorgeous pavilion in City Hall Park, which allows visitors to literally walk into fields of color and interact with spaces projected by the sun onto the ground and pavilion floor.  (Through December 13th).  

Daniel Buren, Suncatcher, powder-coated steel, glass, vinyl, 2013.

Evan Holloway in ‘Lightness of Being,’ at City Hall Park

LA sculptor Evan Holloway uses one of art history’s most iconic artworks, a 4.5 inch high fertility goddess from approximately 22-24,000 BC, as decorative inspiration for a huge, slender bronze ring in City Hall Park.  The shifts between a tiny but fulsome female on a huge but slim ring are provocative and amusing; you’ll also get a rare glimpse of the sculpture’s back view. (Through December 13th).   

Evan Holloway, ‘Willendorf Wheel,’ bronze, 2013.

James Angus in ‘Lightness of Being’ at City Hall Park

One of the city’s best exhibitions of the moment isn’t in a gallery…the Public Art Fund’s exhibition ‘Lightness of Being’ at City Hall Park brings together an outstanding array of sculpture that surprises with its materials, sizes or concepts.  This week, we’ll check it out, starting with this distorted tractor by Australian-American artist James Angus, which not only looks odd in its über urban environment, but is given another twist by digital distortions in the manufacturing process.  (Through December 13th).   

James Angus, ‘John Deere Model D,’ painted steel, painted cast iron, 2013.

Orly Genger, ‘Red, Yellow and Blue,’ at Madison Square Park

Brooklyn-based artist Orly Genger is known for sculpture and installations involving knitting, but she outdoes herself in Madison Square Park with an installation made by knotting 1.4 million feet of nautical rope collected on the East coast and arranged in undulating waves around the park’s trees.  (Though Sept 8th).  

Orly Genger, ‘Red, Yellow and Blue,’ installation view at Madison Square Park, nautical rope & paint, July 2013.

Allyson Vieira at Metro Tech Center by Public Art Fund

The roughly cut blocks of Allyson Vieira’s sculptures resemble the caryatids of Greek architecture but in an updated, futuristic way.  We enjoyed versions made with drywall at Laurel Gitlen Gallery on last March’s Lower East Side tour, but it’s perfect to see them outdoors in proximity to a Greek-style façade at Brooklyn’s Metro Tech Center.  (Through Sept 16th).     

Allyson Vieira, ‘Weight Bearing V, Weight Bearing VI, Weight Bearing VII,’ 2012.