Tag: public art

Farah Al Qasimi with Public Art Fund

Waiting for the bus (or just walking past the bus stop) isn’t quite so mundane if you’re fortunate enough to encounter one of 100 bus shelters in all five boroughs currently hosting Farah Al Qasimi’s photographs.  Brooklyn-based Al Qasimi cites her upbringing in the Emirates for her attraction to an abundance of color and pattern and explains that in her series ‘Back and Forth Disco,’ presented by the Public Art Fund, personal style choices combat anonymity in the city.  In this image, spotted on Graham Avenue in Brooklyn, a woman performs a beauty treatment, blocking the procedure but enlivening the salon’s subtle décor with her own vibrant outfit.  (On view through May 17th.)

Farah Al Qasimi, from the series Back and Forth Disco, presented by Public Art Fund, 2020.

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.

Rachel Whiteread on Governors Island

Hands down, the best views from any piece of New York real estate are to be had from a tiny, isolated shack on the side of a hill overlooking New York Bay. You can’t actually enter Rachel Whiteread’s ‘Cabin,’ for which she cast a small structure in concrete, but the surroundings are more the point anyway.   With Manhattan’s skyscrapers in view to the north and the Statue of Liberty looking over from the east, this new permanent public artwork is both isolated and at the center of the city. (On permanent view on Governors Island).

Rachel Whiteread, Cabin, concrete and bronze, installation view on Governors Island, 2016.
Rachel Whiteread, Cabin, concrete and bronze, installation view on Governors Island, 2016.

Martin Puryear’s Big Bling at Madison Square Park

Martin Puryear’s huge wooden structure, sheathed in chain-link fencing and capped with a gold-leafed shackle, towers over Madison Square Park’s main lawn like a seated animal. Its shape echoes the Phrygian cap, associated with French revolutionaries and freedom and explored recently by the artist, and is topped off with a gorgeously gleaming shackle – a gilded symbol of servitude. (At Madison Square Park through January 8th, 2017).

Martin Puryear, Big Bling, installation view in Madison Square Park, 2016.
Martin Puryear, Big Bling, installation view in Madison Square Park, 2016.

Mike Nelson in ‘Wanderlust’ on the High Line

Sleeping bags filled with rubble from nearby construction sites make for an eerie sculpture by British artist Mike Nelson. Placed in semi-hidden locations on the High Line, the bags contrast the luxurious living conditions being created in the neighborhood’s new buildings with solitary, make-do survival. (In ‘Wanderlust’ on the High Line through March 2017).

Mike Nelson, Untitled (public sculpture for a redundant space), sleeping bags, concrete, construction debris, dimensions variable, 2016.
Mike Nelson, Untitled (public sculpture for a redundant space), sleeping bags, concrete, construction debris, dimensions variable, 2016.