Art in the Parks

Life in the Abstract is Wyatt Kahn’s first public art exhibition, comprising seven new monumental sculptures fabricated in Cor-Ten steel. Each sculpture juxtaposes components adapted from Kahn’s abstract canvas paintings with “readymade” items like eyeglasses, clock, comb, hand, foot and other elements from his domestic life. The artist translated seventeen line drawings into large welded steel blocks and arranged them in ways that suggest imaginative narrative compositions. Sited in City Hall Park, the works open a conversation between the private sphere of the artist’s life and the public realm of urban architecture, landscape and infrastructure. Life in the Abstract adds to the lineage of modernist public sculpture, infusing it with both playfulness and rigor, reminding us that the creation of abstract ideas and the business of daily life go hand in hand.

This exhibition is presented by Public Art Fund.

Artist Idriss B.’s collection of playful and whimsical polygonal animal forms in different sizes in this inaugural temporary public art exhibition in this section of Park Avenue. There are nine brightly colored animals between 34th and 38th Streets, creating a temporary zoo on this busy thoroughfare.

This exhibition is presented by Patrons of Park Avenue, and the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association.

Members of JASA Club 76 spent the spring of 2022 attending Klein’s workshop on photography and have applied the concepts they learned to create this collaborative body of work. Each person photographed by Klein intentionally chose every aspect of their portraits to create an image of themselves in their own vision. The idea was to create a portrait that captures each person’s legacy as they want to be seen and remembered by friends, family, and the world.

The Red String is an art installation inspired by the Chinese knot, a type of Eastern folk art consisting of distinctive patterns that symbolize unity and love. The installation integrates a series of physical banners with short animations using an Augmented Reality (AR) application on mobile devices. Viewers are advised to scan the AR codes on the banners with smartphone cameras in order to watch the animations, which reinterpret Chinese folktales or traditional operas to reflect on the modern Asian-American identity. As an art project, The Red String calls for unity and dialogue across the cultural and ethnic boundaries within the social spectrum. 

This exhibition is presented by More Art.

This installation by Oluwaseyi (Shayee) Awoyomi, a fifth-generation textile dyer from the Yoruba people of Nigeria, tells the story of Iya Alaro (“Mother of Dyers”). Indigo dyed textile is known as Adire, which translates as (adi) “to tie” and (re) “to dye.” The honor of Iya Alaro comes with great responsibility, overseeing the harvesting of the indigo plant, prepping the dye baths, composition of solvents, and organization of the community of women. Once the Adire is ready for market, the Iyaloja (the “Mother of the Market”) is selected, an honor of Chieftaincy voted in by the fellow market women, nominated by the King, and/or politically chosen. The Adire textile is prepared for the coronation of the Iyaloja.

This exhibition is presented by Harlem Needle Arts.

Juan Capistran’s text-based sculpture Sundown (2021–2022), presented by CURRO, is rooted in the context of "sundown towns" and redlining across the United States. Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, are all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States that practice a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites. This work takes the form of a quaint, large-scale greeting sign that welcomes viewers with a picturesque sunset landscape painted within the letters forming the words “get out." 

This exhibition is presented by CURRO in partnership with the Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance for Armory Off-Site.

This exhibition is presented by Madison Square Park Conservancy.

This exhibition features new work from three NYC based artists—Michael Capobiano, Rose Deler, and Asano Agarie G—that explore three points of view regarding the current cultural crisis, based upon the realization that we are more alike than different. The work prompts the view to examine their feelings and beliefs on an individual human scale. In this way, they may see where they fit in and how they relate to the human fabric as a whole.

This is the second edition of Faces of Harlem, an outdoor photography exhibition commemorating Harlem and its beautiful everyday people. It includes 100 photographs by ten contemporary photographers, as well as three youth photographers, that capture more personal images of Harlem neighbors and present them in Morningside Park. The collective group of images moves from the street to indoors with the aim of rebuilding connections that were lost during the past years of physical isolation. By documenting Harlemites in their intimate spaces, the audience is provided a deeper look into family life, creativity, work, faith, relationships, and love within the community.

This exhibition is presented by Faces of Harlem.