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| Incomplete Open Cubes, Sol LeWitt, 1974 |
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| Complex Forms, Sol LeWitt, 1990 |
May 24, 2011-December 3, 2011
City Hall Park
After a quick lunch at home, I grabbed my Nikon Coolpix and jumped on the downtown R train to the City Hall stop. I had read recent articles about the Sol LeWitt show and I was anxious to view the 27 sculptures, or "structures" as LeWitt referred to them, in person. This survey includes pieces from his modular, serial, geometric and irregular structures series. The first two pieces that I saw were Complex Forms, which are two irregular structures from 1990. They are white, abstract standing forms that have an undeniable quiet and strong presence. On Centre Street, I was intrigued by Tower (Columbus), a pyramid of eight sections made of concrete blocks which are designed in setbacks. The siting of this work was the most distinctive aspect of it because it was at the nexus of the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall and the new residential building designed by Frank Gehry in the distance. Across from it was the first example of LeWitt's incomplete open cubes. LeWitt began to work with the open cube in the mid-1960s as his attention turned to the concept of subtraction and the exploration of variations of the incomplete open cube. His cubes have always fascinated me the most of all of the structures that he investigated. The reason is that they force the viewer to confront the void and we derive the true meaning of each piece from what we cannot see. Their essence is the presence of absence. I then walked up Park Row by the side entrance of City Hall and turned into the park to view more structures. I came across three people in their 20s who created their own human incomplete cube on the lawn for a photo. Two were on the grass at a perpendicular angle to each other and the third formed a vertical element. It was marvelous to view their interpretation of LeWitt's work. I saw more of LeWitt's cubes, a pyramid (which reminded me of climbing the Mayan pyramids at Uxmal, Chichen Itza and Coba with my Dad), another complex form that was like a giant origami ship in painted white aluminum, and a colorful late work called Splotch 15 from 2005 (LeWitt died in 2007) that was a serious contrast to his earlier modular work. Be sure to walk all the way around the sculptures because you will then notice how they interact with the city from different perspectives and allow ample time to take a leisurely stroll around the park.
The Public Art Fund's website has information about the Guide by Cell Audio Tour, an app and docent tours.
I then took the uptown R train to the 23rd St. stop in the Flatiron district. I needed a gelato break and so I bopped into Eataly (200 5th Ave. between 23rd St. and 24th St.), which is one of my favorite places in the city. I picked up a small cup of Straciatella and headed across the street to Madison Square Park to view the next featured sculpture on the tour.
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| Echo, Jaume Plensa, 2011 |
May 5, 2011-August 14, 2011
Madison Square Park
I was familiar with Mr. Plensa's piece, Crown Fountain (2004), which involved two 50-foot-high video portraits of Chicago residents and each portrait would spout a jet of water every few minutes. Plensa, 56, has his studio in Barcelona and Echo is his first public artwork in New York. The 44-foot-high sculpture of a girl's head was made from polyester resin, white pigment and marble dust. A 9-year-old daughter of a restauranteur near Plensa's home was the model for the statue. He used a 3-D digital image of his subject and then utilized computer modeling to elongate and alter the facial details. The sculpture was cast in 15 pieces and assembled over a steel scaffolding, which I viewed on a recent afternoon as I was on my way to meet a friend. There is a sense of peace about the statue, with its closed eyes, slender facial features and braid in the back. Plensa gave a nod to Brancusi's Endless Column in creating Echo, which was inspired by the nymph who was condemned by Zeus to repeat the words of others. As I enjoyed my gelato while sitting on a bench in the shade, I wondered about how many of the sunbathers on the Oval Lawn were curious about the serene statue in the middle of the park.
For more information, please go to the Madison Square Park Conservancy's website.
I hopped on the uptown R train to the 5th Ave./59th St. stop to continue the tour.
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| Circle of Animals, Ai Weiwei, 2010 |
May 2, 2011-July 15, 2011
Pulitzer Fountain
Grand Army Plaza (corner of 58th St. and 5th Ave., in front of the Plaza Hotel)
Ai Weiwei, the highly acclaimed Chinese contemporary artist, recreated on an oversized scale the 12 bronze animal heads that represent the traditional Chinese zodiac in his first major sculpture project. It is also the first time that an art installation has been exhibited at the Pulitzer Fountain. Each head weighs approximately 800 pounds. The original heads were built by European Jesuits to adorn the water fountain-clock of the Yuanming Yuan, an imperial retreat in Beijing. The Jesuits served in the Qian dynasty court of Emperor Qianlong. In 1860, the heads were pillaged and the fountain was destroyed by British and French troops during the Second Opium War. Seven of the heads were found. Five are on display in China and two in France. In this installation, Ai Weiwei, 54, investigated issues of plundering, repatriation, identity and how an original object relates to a reproduction. Ai Weiwei has been detained by the Chinese authorities since early April, 2011 and, as a result, the installation has been high-profile outside of the art world.
You cannot walk through the plaza without stopping to look at the animals because their presence is beyond striking. When I visited this afternoon, I heard a mother ask her young daughter which head was her favorite. A sign in the plaza posed the question, "Are you a dog or a rabbit?" and a chart was provided for visitors to find out which animal corresponded to their year of birth. One gentleman had his photo taken while he pointed to the rabbit head. This exhibition is a must-see. I hope that there will be future installations in this space.
If you are not in the New York area, here's some good news: the Zodiac Heads are on a world tour. There is a concurrent exhibition at Somerset House in London. They will be on view there through June 30, 2011. They will be exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from September 1, 2011-February 15, 2012.
I crossed 60th Street and walked over to the last stop on the tour.
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| Empire, Eva Rothschild, 2011 |
March 1, 2011- August 28, 2011
Doris C. Freedman Plaza, 60th St. and 5th Ave.
Central Park
Empire is the first public art commission in the United States for the Irish artist Eva Rothschild, 40, and it is a disappointment. The piece is meant to be a transition between the city and the park, which it accomplishes in an unremarkable manner. The canopy of trees in Central Park served as an inspiration and according to the description of the work that is posted nearby with the artist's name in enormous bold type, Empire "creates a physical tension between imposing volume and its spidery, intersecting elements." It reminded me of a Louise Bourgeois spider sculpture, but Empire is so unsophisticated that it should be relocated to a playground so that children can enjoy climbing up its "elements." It will never be in the Bourgeois league. In fact, when I visited the piece today, I saw children trying to climb on it. Only a few people paused to view it. Quite the opposite reaction from those who were across the plaza viewing Ai Weiwei's work.
Enjoy the sculptures!
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