Tag: public sculpture

Gabriel Chaile on the High Line

Inspired by pre-Columbian ceramics in his native country of Argentina, Gabriel Chaile’s High Line sculpture ‘The Wind Blows Where it Wishes’ turns a vessel-shape into a living form with a delicate face positioned both front and back on the neck.  Made from steel and adobe, the sculpture recalls ancient handcrafting processes while being protected and animated by an undulating ribbon of dark metal which ends at the front in two small hands holding a tube-like instrument.  Towering yet humble, an object yet miraculously living, Chaile’s enchanting sculpture uniquely engages the park’s visitors.  (On view on the High Line over 24th Street through April ’24).

Gabriel Chaile, The Wind Blows Where it Wishes, adobe and steel, 2023.

Jaime Miranda-Bambaren in Foley Square and Thomas Paine Park

Surrounded by the notable buildings of downtown Manhattan’s civic center, Jaime Miranda-Bambaren’s sculptures crafted from the roots of felled Peruvian trees add an additional historic component to the urban landscape.  Scattered around Foley Square and neighboring Thomas Paine Park and located in front of New York’s most prominent courthouses, 13 spheres sculpted from the abandoned root systems of illegally felled Peruvian trees act as witness to destruction but also offer hope.  Titled 13 Moons (Seeds), the sculptures represent the regenerative possibilities of nature.  (Join an architecture tour and see the pieces in person!  On view through June 20th in Foley Square).

Jaime Miranda-Bambaren, installation view of 13 Moons (Seeds) in April 2023 in Foley Square, Manhattan.

Isa Genzken’s Rose III at Zuccotti Park

Berlin-based sculptor Isa Genzken loves New York.  Years ago, she visited the city as a teen and has returned regularly, expanding her interest in the interrelation between buildings and other aspects of the urban fabric.  Versions of her 26-foot-tall rose, a token of love, debuted on the façade of the New Museum and dominates MoMA’s currently closed sculpture garden.  This iteration, installed permanently on the corner of Zuccotti Park and Trinity Place, winkingly adds ornament to the stripped-down modernist buildings in the area while continuing to express affection for the city on still-quiet downtown streets.

Isa Genzken, Rose III, aluminum, galvanized steel, lacquer, 2016.

Goshka Macuga on the High Line in ‘Busted’

Public sculptures tend to depict moments of triumph, not regret. This makes Polish artist Goshka Macuga’s bronze rendition of Colin Powell, part of the High Line’s portrait exhibition ‘Busted,’ surprising and poignant as he shows the leader holding a vial of anthrax in his 2003 UN speech on weapons of mass destruction. (Through June 2014 at 22nd Street on the High Line.)  

Goshka Macuga, ‘Colin Powell,’ bronze and concrete, 2009.

Monika Sosnowska and the Public Art Fund

Monika Sosnowska, Fir Tree, steel, 2012.
Monika Sosnowska, Fir Tree, steel, 2012.

Monika Sosnowska’s ‘Fir Tree,’ a 40 foot tall steel sculpture currently located at the southeast entrance to Central Park is just a step beyond the park’s trees but is more in keeping with the solid, man-made structures surrounding the park.  It belongs to neither world, however, and its lack of cheer and melted, post-disaster appearance lend it an ominous intrigue. (Through Feb 17th).