Wednesday, October 4, 2023 –  AUTUMN ART INSTALLATIONS ARE HERE TO ENJOY

By admin

FROM THE ARCHIVES

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4,  2023

NEW ART INSTALLATIONS

TO SEE IN NYC

OCTOBER 2023

PART 2

ISSUE#  1091

Long Island City has a new sculpture park! Located between 5203 and 5241 Center Blvd, the park is a collaboration between real estate developer TF Cornerstone (TFC) and the Queens-based art organization Culture Lab LIC. There are currently three works on display by New York artists. The first is ‘Confidence” by Long Island-based sculptor Paul Maus. This abstract white marble figure is part of a series by Maus that “portrays women asserting their identity against societal pressures.” Next, neon specialist Kenny Greenberg’s original work, ‘ART DREAM,’ features handcrafted neon letters meant to look like part of a crossword puzzle. Finally, Mexican-born artist Erwin List Sanchez’s ‘The Moose Spirit’ is a life-size moose made of 1,000 old railroad spikes. These three pieces were selected from submissions to an open call for outdoor public sculptures in 2022.

Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE sculpture has returned to NYC! Rockefeller Center, in partnership with The Robert Indiana Legacy Initiative, is showcasing monumental sculptures by the artist now through October 23rd. The centerpiece of the exhibition is LOVE, a 12-foot-high polychrome aluminum public artwork that stood at the corner of 55th Street and Sixth Avenue for decades. The piece was removed in 2019 for conservation. ONE Through ZERO (The Ten Numbers) (1980-2001) can also be seen at Rockefeller Center this month. This piece is made of eight-foot-high numbers crafted from Cor-ten steel. ONE Through ZERO represents the cycle of human life from birth to death and exemplifies Indiana’s fascination with numbers. Accompanying the sculptures is a series of 193 flags surrounding The Rink at Rockefeller Center. The flags feature images from Indiana’s Peace Paintings series, created as a response to the 9/11 attacks.

Photo Courtesy Four Freedoms Park Conservancy

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Grand Stairs of Four Freedoms Park, a canvas of large-scale art installations, is now covered by a mural from artist Mata Ruda. Titled Esta Tierra Es Nuestra Tierra (This Land is Our Land), the mural “celebrates the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.” It features the portraits of Latino New Yorkers who embody FDR’s Four Freedoms: Brooklynite and freedom-fighter Olga Garriga for freedom of speech and expression, writer and Yoruba priestess Dr. Marta Moreno Vega for freedom of worship, a bodega owner Candido Arcángel, who turned his basement into a homeless shelter, for freedom from want, and transgender advocate Lorena Borjas for freedom from fear. A fifth figure represents the dreamer in everyman. The mural will be unveiled at the Four Freedoms Park Conservancy’s LatinXtravaganza on Saturday, October 7, hosted by Pulitzer Prize finalist Xocihtl Gonzalez. It will be on view through October 15th.

The 191st Street subway station in Washington Heights is considered the deepest station in the system, but its known for something else as well. For years, this station was famous for the street art that covered the walls of its pedestrian tunnel. In early 2023, the walls were painted white and a call was put out for artists to create new murals for the space. Those murals were unveiled this September. Five artists were chosen and they worked with members of the local community to create the murals you see now between Broadway and St. Nicholas Avenue and 1 train station. Those artists are Carla Torres, Rasheeda Johnson, Denise Coke, Daniel Bonilla, and Vicky Azcoitia. Each artist was assigned a section of the roughly 10,000 square feet of artwork space. Their murals highlight characteristics of the surrounding neighborhoods and the people who live there.

WEDNESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

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Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS

UNTAPPED NEW YORK

JUDITH BERDY

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