Art in the Parks

The latest in Ursachi’s decades-long “bunker” series, Fat Boy is an oversized head embedded with three recessed bunker windows fitted with mirrors instead of glass. Measuring 9.5 feet tall and 8.5 feet wide, the artwork was carved from styrofoam and covered in a weatherproof, cementitious material. Fat Boy is Ursachi’s first bunker sculpture in the form of a head. His previous bunkers, one of which was on view in at the entrance of Prospect Park off Grand Army Plaza in 2007, have been cylindrical and made with a variety of materials such as turkey feathers, willow branches, and ceramic tiles. “My bunkers reference not only war but also nests, shelter and refuge. They are as much about longing for home as they are about conflict, ” states Ursachi.

Fat Boy is based on a classical Western putto, or male child often depicted in Renaissance and Baroque artworks. “Since antiquity,” says the artist, “putti have been malleable signifiers, representing, among other things, Eros, panic, abandon, and joy.” Fat Boy’s title derives not only from his plump, cherubic face, but also from the WWII atomic bombs, Little Boy and Fat Man, giving the sculpture twin references to Eros and war.

Fat Boy was first exhibited at the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, which is a partial sponsor of this exhibit. The exhibition is also in partnership with the Prospect Park Alliance.

Three bodies of work are represented in the exhibition by Danish artist Jeppe Hein. Appearing Rooms is a systematically changing installation with walls of water that create rooms which appear and disappear. Visitors may move from space to space as the jets of water rise and fall. Mirror Labyrinth NY is made with equidistantly spaced vertical planks of mirror-polished stainless steel. Arranged in three radial arcs, the alternating rhythm and uneven heights of the steel elements echo the Manhattan skyline. Connecting these two works and continuing along the length of the park, the artist has installed sixteen bright red Modified Social Benches. These witty sculptures reinvent the form of the park bench, turning it into a lyrical and evocative work of art. Like each of his installations, they generate spontaneous expression and social connection, giving us new perspectives on ourselves and the world we share.

This exhibition is presented by the Public Art Fund.

Heartseat is a striking red sculptural seat fabricated from a repurposed water tank. This work was originally commissioned for the juried Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition. In its original orientation, the work was a participatory installation in the form of a massive heart glowing to the rhythm of a strong, deep and low frequency heartbeat sound and visitors were encouraged to move around and engage with it by playing various percussion instruments. Now, the once united heart is split in half in order to form innovative public seating.

Stereotank is founded by architects Marcelo Ertorteguy and Sara Valente, and is dedicated towards creating a fusion between architecture, music, design and environmental science with their public art projects.

This exhibition was originally commissioned presented by the Times Square Alliance and The Architectural League of New York.

Borrowed Light is an outdoor sound installation and sculpture by artist Sari Carel in Sunset Park. The project features abstract geometric architectural forms, incorporating field recorded sounds from the park’s local fauna. A series of related community workshops and performances will accompany the project throughout the summer.

Sari Carel worked with Sunset Park’s stewards to gather data on the park’s native species and created a richly layered soundscape for the installation. The piece is played from speakers embedded in the sculpture, and park visitors are invited to engage with both sound and sculpture.

Made out of several free-standing wood elements, this grouping draws on a Modernist vocabulary, using forms that are anchored in a utilitarian past, but also depart from that. The forms echo the grid lines of the city, and create a drawing in space, conversing with the emblematic image of the Manhattan skyline visible from the highest elevated locations of Sunset Park.

Borrowed Light is part of Carel’s continued investigation into alternative relationships between sound, image and audience. More importantly, Borrowed Light will give participants an opportunity to form a personal experience with an art piece and get a palpable sense of the creative process as both a private and public practice. Throughout the duration of the project, More Art will be collaborating with local organizations and education centers to hold workshops and performances at the installation. Please visit:www.moreart.org for information on upcoming events.

This exhibition is presented by More Art. For more information about this exhibition and related events visit the project website.

The Public Utteraton Machine is an interactive work that aims to engage the local community in a discussion about public art in New York. The piece, created in part with an antique phone speaker and ear piece, is a no-dial phone that automatically connects to a conversation prompt that asks the user about the value of public art in the city and in their specific neighborhood. Do locals want it, need it, appreciate itΑ What role and purpose does public art play in public spaces and neighborhoodsΑ The Utteraton Machine revives public utterances and will help examine this hotly debated topic discussed by art, design and public administrators around the world. This solar-powered device will use an innovative paper display screen to guide the conversation and will record responses, which will remain anonymous and will ultimately be publically available online at www.utteraton.com and possibly some public libraries.

Henry Kielmanowicz creates sculptures from manmade objects that enter the waste cycle, specifically glass bottles. The bottles are transformed in a labor-intensive process by breaking, crushing and separating the glass into multiple sizes creating a new raw material. Not only is Kielmanowicz reusing waste from society, he also incorporates waste produced in his own studio.

The Space Between Us, a sculpture of a moon that has been created with repurposed bottles and resin, lights the park at night.

This exhibition is presented by First Street Green.

In conjunction with his exhibition nudes, signs, and a contract at OSMOS Address, Stuart Ringholt, Ringholt installed an accompanying large-scale sculpture entitled Signpost (2007-2015) in nearby in First Park. Using the standard materials for a street sign, the artist facilitates an unexpected encounter with the range of emotions named on arrows pointing in different directions.

This exhibition is presented by Milani Gallery, Brisbane, OSMOS Address and First Street Green.

Eirini Linardaki’s public art installation Whattoseesottahw is inspired by children’s drawings created during artist-led workshops in the park. Her work often concentrates on creating beautiful, unexpected moments within urban and abandoned spaces. As a resident of the East Village, she continues this exploration inher installation Whattoseesottahw, where sheembraces the often ambiguous nature of children’s drawings. In her workshops, children and families visiting Tompkins Square were encouraged to create images of familiar wildlife that they encountered in the park. These drawings and paintings may appear indecipherable at a first glance, similar to a Rorschach test; however, when children are asked to elaborate they create joyful stories about the natural elements they observed.

Several of these drawings were collected and combined to create images that were transferred onto wood panels. The images were then either cut out of the panel, revealing glances of the park, or partially removed with half of the drawing still visible. Some of the cutouts were painted with chalk paint so kids can complete the drawing. The panels, located in the Slocum Memorial Fountain Plaza, are low on the fence in order to maintain a relationship with children’s eye level. Linardaki will periodically conduct workshops throughout the exhibition in the sitting area behind the park house.

All of the paintings that inspire the installation will be uploaded to her website.

Petros Chrisostomou’s sculpture Sky Feather, Located at the Riverside Park Bird Sanctuary at 116th Street, aims to bring awareness to this vibrant, natural bird community.ÃΑÂ Sky Feather, formerly exhibited at 124th Street and Lennox Avenue, will act as a meeting point in the park and a point of discussion amongst park visitors and birders. Though feathers appear fragile and weightless, sculpture was fabricated with stained and sealed birch plywood and stands at 12 feet tall.ÃΑÂ He notes that a feather is the symbolic remains of a journey or flight. Bird migration gracefully parallels the journey taken by people around the world. The diversity of New York City makes it an interesting and fertile arena for this homage to cultural diversity and migration. He also hopes that the sculpture will draw people from other neighborhoods to the park, adding an additional layer of movement.

The Riverside Park Bird Sanctuary runs from 116th Street to 124th Street. Since 1997, the approximately 10 acres of the Sanctuary have been undergoing reforestation, and over 3,000 plants have been added. In the last thirty years 177 species of birds have been seen in or around the Sanctuary, with a yearly average of about 120 species. Visitors can expect to see the blue grosbeak, summer tanager, hooded warbler, mourning warbler and nine species of sparrows, among others. For more information on the Bird Sanctuary and optimal birding times visit NYC Audubon’s website.

Summer on the Hudson, the NYC Parks’ annual outdoor arts and culture festival in Riverside Park, will organize an artist talk with Chrisostomou and a bird walk in conjunction with this exhibition. Program dates will be listed on the Summer on the Hudson website.

This exhibition was kindly supported by the Riverside Park Conservancy and the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP).

Michael Whiting creates playful sculptures drawing from the forms and imagery of early video gaming and computer graphics. Whiting attempts to communicate as much visual information as possible with his essential forms that combine the reductive simplicity of the minimalist movement and the sensibility of pop art in re-contextualizing cultural icons.

The exhibition is presented by Causey Contemporary.