Abraham Lincoln’s vision for the U.S. literally explodes from his eyes in Brian Tolle’s sculpture of Lincoln with the text from his inaugural addresses bursting in red, white and blue from his eyes. The sculpture is part of a show featuring U.S. presidents from Washington to Obama with attributes that relate to their roles in the country’s history. (At CRG Gallery on the Lower East Side through June 12th).
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.