Art Art &Commentary 10 Jun 2007 10:21 am
Two Statues
- One thing about New York is that there are a lot of statues. Lots of parks filled with lots of statues of late Presidents, generals, soldiers. As we saw in Balto, there’s even a statue of a dog that saved some lives. Not too long ago I posted some steel silver statues of trees as they grew in Madison Square Park. I have a fascination with a lot of the old guy statues that also fill up that park and how they’re all staring at the center – those steel trees.
But I thought I’d post some pictures of two statues that fascinate me. One that I see almost daily since moving to the village is the big Picasso statue that graces NYU’s apartment complex on Bleecker Street. Unlike the massive Picasso statue in the center of Chicago, this one is not made of metal. It’s stone. Oddly it almost looks like a statue that was made by an admirer of Picasso’s – it’s almost too Picasso-like. But there’s a lot I like about it.
I like how it almost exploits the cubist thing as you walk around the statue the size and shape of the head changes. Angles are everything with this lady. As you move around her things keep changing. It makes me curious to know what it looks like from above (like from the roof of the building behind it.)
The color seems designed to almost perfectly match the buildings that stand around it. (Or maybe the buildings were designed to match the statue.) The engraved lines that shape her face use the shadows they create to make them lighter or darker depending on the overhead light.
Look how her chin looks completely different as you move around her. The same is true
of the entire statue.
As you turn from back to front the whole statue looks completely different. It’s a great piece.
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Then there’s the rabbit. This piece stands on a small traffic island at the base of Park 
Avenue as it reaches 14th Street. The statue stands at one of the entrances to Union Square Park. If you’re heading to the Farmer’s Market situated within this park, it’s likely you’ll pass this statue.
The statue is by Barry Flanagan. Apparently he did five of these rabbits (though I haven’t seen any of the others.)
He’s an Irish artist who has done quite a few sculptures of rabbits and other animals. He died in 2005.
(Click on any image to enlarge.)
There’s just such a wide diversity of public art on display; it always stirs me.
What a creative place to live.
on 10 Jun 2007 at 7:32 pm 1.annulla said …
I’ve noticed that rabbit statue and was intrigued, but I never did find the sign that indicated the name of the work or the artist. Thanks for letting us know.
Of course, I had to google his name and learned that about a year ago, eight of Barry Flanagan’s rabbits were exhibited on O’Connell Street in Dublin.
Here are some photos and a news article.
on 11 Jun 2007 at 2:49 am 2.Michael Pinto said …
I’ve always admired the humorous statutes underground at the 8th Avenue L train stop, they’re very small and placed throughout the station. The art installation is by Tom Otterness and called Life Underground:
http://www.tomostudio.com/exhibitions_subway.html
on 11 Jun 2007 at 8:52 pm 3.Bob Flynn said …
I’m not entirely sure if it’s the same artist, but we had a rabbit statue posed as The Thinker at my college, Washington University in St. Louis. If you scroll down on this link, you can see a photo:
http://rudylab.wustl.edu/lab/campus.htm