NYC Public Art- Pamela Rosenkranz- “Old Tree”

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, New York Art Shows, Public Art, Sculptors / Sculpture
Sep 062024
 

Old Tree, the sculpture pictured above, was created by Pamela Rosenkranz for the High Line in NYC.

From the High Line website–

For the third High Line Plinth commission, Rosenkranz presents Old Tree, a bright red-and-pink sculpture that animates myriad historical archetypes wherein the tree of life connects heaven and earth. The tree’s sanguine color resembles the branching systems of human organs, blood vessels, and tissue, inviting viewers to consider the indivisible connection between human and plant life. Old Tree evokes metaphors for the ancient wisdom of human evolution as well as a future in which the synthetic has become nature. On the High Line—a contemporary urban park built on a relic of industry—Old Tree raises questions about what is truly “artificial” or “natural” in our world. Made of man-made materials and standing at a height of 25 feet atop the Plinth, it provides a social space, creating shade while casting an ever-changing, luminous aura amid New York’s changing seasons.

Pamela Rosenkranz creates sculptures, paintings, videos, and installations that reflect on the human need to anthropomorphize our surroundings in order to understand them. In doing so, she investigates the codes through which people give meaning to the natural world. Her projects center synthetic materials created in the image of nature: a swimming pool filled with viscous fluid, collections of mineral water bottles filled with silicone, or a kitchen faucet streaming water colored with E131 “sky blue” synthetic dye. Color is paramount for Rosenkranz, who employs fabricated colors intended to reflect unblemished and idealized nature. She elaborates on the condition of the body as a malleable system. Questioning the worldview that centers human beings, Rosenkranz addresses our relentless attempts to domesticate and tame the other living beings around us, as well as our own bodies.

Flashback- NYC Public Art- Raúl de Nieves on the High Line

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, New York Art Shows, Public Art, Sculptors / Sculpture
Aug 302024
 

Raúl de Nieves created these sculptures for the group exhibition The Musical Brain, located on the High Line in NYC in 2021.

From the High Line’s website about the exhibition-

The Musical Brain is a group exhibition that reflects on the power music has to bring us together. The exhibition is named after a short story by the Argentine contemporary writer César Aira, and explores the ways that artists use music as a tool to inhabit and understand the world. The featured artists approach music through different lenses—historical, political, performative, and playful—to create new installations and soundscapes installed throughout the park.

Traditionally, music is thought of as an art form we construct ourselves. With different organizing rules, instruments, and traditions across cultures, music has underpinned essential collective moments in societies for as long as we know. But music is also the way that we hear the world around us. Often used to described nature (wind whistling through trees), the cosmos (in the Music of the Spheres, or musica universalis), and even the built industrial environment (the rhythmic lull of a train car), music is the order we project onto a cacophonous world. Humans seek order and patterns but also relish chaos and noise; in many ways, music becomes the way that we can experience both at the same time.

The artists in this exhibition listen closely to the sonic world and explore the different temporal, sculptural, social, and historical dimensions of the ways we make music, and the ways we listen. They wonder what stories discarded objects tell when played, what happens when a railway spike becomes a bell, and how the youth of our generation sing out warnings to save our planet. They remind us that music is a powerful tool for communication, especially in times when spoken language fails us. The sonic brings us together to celebrate, protest, mark the passage of time, and simply be together.

And about the artist and this work-

Raúl de Nieves (b. 1983, Morelia, Mexico) makes colorful sculptures and elaborately costumed performances. Having learned to sew and crochet as a child, de Nieves collages found fabrics onto mannequins and coveralls to create fantastical figures that he displays as sculptures and wears in musical performances. De Nieves installs three of these figures sitting on benches on the High Line. The sculptures reference the costumes musicians wear to become their larger-than-life personas and interrupt the crowds with their magical splendor.

Florida Art- Jaume Plensa at Tampa Museum of Art

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Florida Art Shows, Installation Art, Public Art, Sculptors / Sculpture, Tampa
Aug 202024
 

Above is Jaume Plensa’s sculpture Laura with Bun, 2014, on view at Tampa Museum of Art.

From the museum-

At more than 23 feet tall, this artwork expresses both individual and universal traits at great scale, inviting viewers to consider multiple aspects of beauty and human nature. Like all of his large-scale female portrait heads, Laura has her eyes closed, as if looking within. In speaking about these works, Plensa has said, “Look into yourself. My piece is a mirror to reflect your image, so you can think about your own interior—how much beauty we have inside of ourselves.”

California Art- Albert Frey’s “Aluminaire House” at Palm Springs Art Museum

 Architecture, Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, California Art Shows, Palm Springs Art Shows, Public Art
Aug 152024
 

After seeing the Albert Frey exhibition at Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center, you can visit his recently unveiled Aluminaire House near the museum’s main location. It’s incredible at every angle as it reflects its surroundings.

The structure has an interesting history. Before it arrived in Palm Springs, it was rebuilt on architect Wallace Harrison’s property in Huntington, Long Island where it remained from 1931 until 1987. From 1988-2012, it was partially rebuilt on New York Institute of Technology’s Central Islip campus before being dismantled and stored in a trailer.

From the museum-

Designed by Albert Frey, Aluminaire House is one of the first examples of European-style modernist architecture in the United States. Built in 1931 as a full-scale model house for a temporary exhibition, it was intended to be a prototype of mass-produced housing, factory made with modern materials. Composed primarily of aluminum, steel, and glass, it was an experiment in realizing a democratic ideal in architecture of creating affordable, well-designed homes using modern industrial methods and materials. Palm Springs Art Museum acquired the Aluminaire House to add to its rich holdings by Albert Frey, who spent most of his life and career in Palm Springs.

SHINE Mural Festival 2020- Lili Yuan

 Art, Artists, Florida Street Art, Painting / Painters, Public Art, St. Petersburg Street Art, Street Art
Aug 082024
 

Gift, by Lili Yuan was created for the 2020 edition of SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.

This is her statement about the work from the SHINE website–

“With millions of gallons of wastewater spilled around Tampa Bay in recent years, I chose to depict an obscured female surrounded by water to convey an implicit narrative that the water and humanity are more tightly coupled than ever. After going through many ideas, I went for a simplified design because the value of water itself is precious enough to resonate. Holding water in hand symbolizes a precious gift from nature as water sustains all life no matter big or small; and the round shape represents nature’s best gift – our mother earth.

Meanwhile, I chose the Chinese idiom “上善若水“, which means “Be like water, as water stays humble while benefiting all”. It shows the importance of water and strikes a chord with humans whom should all be loving nature and preserving our precious water resources.”- Lili Yuan

Murals of La Jolla- Sandra Cinto

 Art, Artists, California Street Art, California Travel, Conceptual Art, Painting / Painters, Places to Visit, Public Art, San Diego Street Art, San Diego Travel, Street Art
Aug 012024
 

Sandra Cinto created the mural above in 2018 for Murals of La Jolla, in San Diego. The Murals of La Jolla project commissions various artists to create murals around La Jolla with 16 currently on view and 48 created in total.  A map of current work can be found here.

From the Murals of La Jolla website about this work–

In Sandra Cinto’s mural, Untitled, we get lost in a vortex of lines that push and pull in every direction. Inspired by the immersive relationship of the ocean as a part of La Jolla’s Landscape, Cinto “decided to create another kind of landscape and make it by drawing without colors”. The artist intends for each viewer to have a different experience with the work as it is meant to be an open landscape. For Cinto, her work reinforces a kind of philosophy that each little mark is important, since “little details, little actions can change everything.” The viewer can be absorbed in the lines and details found in her work or step back and behold an undulating and pulsating landscape.

 

 

Throwback Thursday- Randyland in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Installation Art, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Pennsylvania Art Shows, Pittsburgh, Places to Visit, Public Art, Sculptors / Sculpture
Jul 182024
 

Randyland is a free eclectic outdoor museum located on the Northside of Pittsburgh. The founder, Randy Gilson bought the property for $10,000 using a credit card. Upcycled objects, sculptures, paintings and murals began to fill the space, and the rest is history.

Included in the story of Randyland is how Gilson met and fell in love with his partner, David Paul Francis “Mac” McDermott. McDermott would go on to help Gilson build the museum. Sadly, he passed away from cancer in 2019.

The museum is open year round from 12-7pm.

Ohio Public Art- Ewuresi Archer for Land Studio’s Art Wall in Cleveland

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Cleveland, Ohio Art Shows, Painting / Painters, Public Art
May 042024
 

Ewuresi Archer’s Indescribable Charm was created for Land Studio’s rotating space The Art Wall in Cleveland’s Public Square. Archer is a Ghanaian American artist who is based in the city and graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art.

From the artist about this work-

Indescribable Charm is a piece about capturing the indescribable feeling of tranquility through a vibrant landscape. With exaggerations in the textured grass with natural shades of green contrasted with bright oranges and distorted landscapes, this piece provides a space for people to stop, think, and reflect. Within this charming scene, a figure stands front and center with features associated with African Americans. My art is about celebrating myself and my culture; with this piece, I’m celebrating the beauty of black people. Putting an African American figure in a field of grass that calls for admiration gives a viewer no choice but to also admire the figure’s aesthetics. This piece puts them in a place of admiration. His strong yet ethereal presence adds depth to the piece as a whole. The serene landscape, in contrast to the figure’s beauty, creates a wonderfully harmonious composition that invites viewers to contemplate the majestic charm of the grass and the mysterious beauty of the figure.

You can also find Ewuresi Archer on Instagram.

Ohio Public Art- Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s “Free Stamp” in Cleveland

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Cleveland, Ohio Art Shows, Public Art, Sculptors / Sculpture
May 012024
 

Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen created Free Stamp, the 70,000 pound sculpture, pictured above, in 1985.

Cleveland Historical, which has detailed numerous historical sites in the city, provides a detailed history of the sculpture. They also have an app to simplify exploring the city.

Below is a section from their website about Free Stamp–

…Commissioned by the Amoco Company in 1982, the Stamp was designed and fabricated in 1985. At the time, Amoco owned Sohio (Standard Oil of Ohio) and the building now known as 200 Public Square, and the piece was intended to reside in front of the building. But in 1986, before installation could happen, Amoco, Sohio and the building were acquired by BP America. The new owners refused to mount the sculpture—perhaps believing that “Free Stamp” was a metaphoric aspersion. Art historian Edward J. Olszewski has also noted that, in England, Pop Art is viewed more cynically and politically than in the United States, where it is considered primarily whimsical. Oldenburg is on record as saying that “free,” references the emancipation of American slaves during and after the Civil War—a plausible explanation given the piece’s planned proximity to the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument.

So instead of adorning Public Square, the Free Stamp was denied its freedom: imprisoned instead in a warehouse in Illinois. There it gathered dust for five years before then-mayor George Voinovich invited Oldenburg and van Bruggen to Cleveland in hopes of selecting another site.

It eventually was decided that the Stamp should be located in Willard Park on Lakeside Avenue just west of East 9th Street; and BP agreed to gift it to the city of Cleveland with all installation and maintenance expenses covered. However, disagreements arose about how the sculpture would be positioned. The original intent was for the Stamp to stand face down on Public Square. However, Cleveland city planners felt that this approach was not right for Willard Park and the Stamp ultimately was mounted angularly, with the faux-rubber “FREE” proudly visible. According to Oldenburg, it was as if “a giant hand picked up the Free Stamp and angrily hurled it several blocks to its current location at Willard Park.” Not surprisingly, the Stamp—formally dedicated on November 15, 1991—aims directly at 200 Public Square “It’s pointed on a diagonal to the 23rd floor, which were [BP’s] corporate offices,” notes Olszewski. “It leads the viewer back to the original site.”

Ohio Murals- Lauren Pearce in Cleveland

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Cleveland, Collage, Drawing, Italy, Mixed Media, Ohio Street Art, Painting / Painters, Public Art, Rome, Street Art
Mar 262024
 

The mural above was created by artist Lauren Pearce and is located in Cleveland, Ohio. You can also find her work on Instagram.

She will also be part of the upcoming group exhibition How Do You Want to See Yourself, curated by Larry Ossei Mensah, at Galleria Anna Marra in Rome, Italy. That show will open on 4/10/24.

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