Created in mirror-polished stainless steel, this sculpture of a lifeguard by Scandinavian art duo Elmgreen and Dragset shimmers like an apparition on the Flag Art Foundation’s 9th floor terrace. Peering intently toward the Hudson River (or the buildings on the block in between), the guard is perpetually alert to a situation we can’t see. (In Chelsea through Dec 17th).
More than many vehicles, pick-up trucks seem loaded with sentimental value. Alone in Matthew Marks Gallery’s large 24th Street gallery, this machine-carved, solid stainless steel replica of a baled truck by Charles Ray feels like a monument to a memory. Ray’s exacting sculptural process – involving model making and scanning – took six years, giving the sculpture even more import. (Through April 18th).
Charles Ray, Baled Truck, solid stainless steel, 33 x 50 x 118 inches, 2014.
In a move bound to irk art-lovers who want to see hands-on art making, British conceptual artist Jonathan Monk riffed on Jeff Koons’ fabricated rabbit sculpture by copying it, slightly deflated in 2009. Now, he’s presenting a remake of that piece, but he worked from photos rather than actual measurements of the original, suggesting a tiny measure of creativity or freedom from exactitude. (At Chelsea’s Casey Kaplan Gallery through October 18th).
Jonathan Monk, A Copy of Deflated Sculpture No. 1, stainless steel, 40.5 x 23 x 15”, 2014.
Spanish artist Jaume Plensa experiments with an international aesthetic with a nineteen-part installation of sculptures created from die-cut stainless steel letters from nine alphabets in his latest solo show at Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong. Faceless humans perched on floating boulders create an immaterial ‘every man.’ (Through Dec 14th.)
Jaume Plensa, Talking Continents (installation view), stainless steel, 19 components, varying dimensions, 2013.
As New York galleries take a break in the final weeks of summer, New York Art Tours heads to the city’s parks and public places to enjoy our lively public art scene. Here’s a sculpture that several of you mentioned when we toured Jeff Koons’ show of giant balloon dog sculptures this spring. Koons’ ‘Balloon Flower’ outside of 7 WTC in downtown Manhattan is a hit with kids on this sunny summer day.
Jeff Koons, Balloon Flower, mirror polish stainless steel with transparent color, installation view in park of 7 WTC, July 2013.
