Art in the Parks

In his ongoing sculptural series Site of the Fall - Study of the Renaissance Garden (2016 - present), Reza Aramesh restages images from war reportage dating from the Vietnam War to the present, exploring societal conventions related to race, class, and sexuality. The sculptures reimagine Renaissance icons of anguish and survival, such as Saint Sebastian, in a postcolonial context. Aramesh’s sculptures often depict working class men from his native Iran and other locations around the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Aramesh critiques the still-prevalent idea that the period represents the highest point of artistic achievement by a superior European civilization, and reconsiders whose bodies and likenesses deserve to be memorialized in marble.

This exhibition is presented by Night Gallery and Dastan Gallery for Armory Off-Site.

Through her crochet practice, Pepe brings color, unexpected materials, and optimism to Madison Square Park. Pepe’s canopies and webs made of string and ties, paracord, shoelaces, outsize sustainable rubber bands and climbing plant materials rely on the park’s extant physical structures including light poles and span over several pathways. As the uncommon heirloom vegetables and flowering vines grow across the seasons, they will intermingle with Pepe’s crochet.

This exhibition is presented by Madison Square Park Conservancy.

With a theme of an Alternative Manhattan Project, this Social Practice CUNY fellowship project brings together artists who will be presenting their community-oriented and thought-provoking works of participatory art to engage the community in conversations on peacebuilding. The artists imagine an alternative history, inquiring what if peace-building efforts in the early 1940s were carried out through art and human interactions instead of the development of weapons of mass destruction. Their explorations will manifest as a participatory art event in the outdoor settings at Inwood Hill Park in Manhattan.

Participating artists include Stephanie Alvarado, Nancy Paredes, Yeon Jin Kim, Noelle Salaun, Moses Ros, and Minshik Shin.

This exhibition is presented by Korea Art Forum.

In this newly-commissioned installation, Finkelstein has designed six translucent panels to form a conceptual ‘sky’ of memory and witnessing that floats above the ‘earth’ of the New York City AIDS Memorial’s granite pavers and the reflective waters of the fountain below. These panels layer loosely rendered, hand-drawn clouds—a new style emerging for the artist which documents a reacquaintance with his own “disobedient body” after a stroke several years ago—and text that has been taken from the 1982 poem Bashert, by Irena Klepfisz. Seen through one another, these panels constitute a dialogue with the Memorial site, its emotional intentionality, and its uses of shadow and light.

This exhibition is presented by the NYC AIDS Memorial.

This third iteration of FACES OF HARLEM continues the mission of inspiring meaningful conversations, fostering connection, and bridging some of the many visible gaps in the community by bringing this public outdoor exhibition to Harlem exploring intimate stories about Black Love and Black Joy, documenting Harlemites in their intimate spaces. Alongside ten contemporary photographers, FACES OF HARLEM includes teen perspectives by inviting five Harlem youth photographers to showcase their work.

This exhibition is presented by Faces of Harlem.

Nina Chanel Abney’s whimsical new mural celebrates the feeling of first arriving in New York City. When she moved to New York in 2005, Abney would meander through the city streets from Chelsea to Times Square, seduced by the hustle and bustle, bright lights, and the idea of a sleepless city. All of the “touristy” icons that most lifetime and long-time New Yorkers take for granted were gratifying and glossy to Abney, a self-described Midwestern suburbanite. "NYC LOVE" is representative of Abney’s first years as a student and tourist in New York City—an ode to the feeling of newness and unfamiliarity that breeds excitement and possibility.

This mural is presented by Friends of the High Line.

This exhibition of seven new steel and fiberglass sculptures in City Hall Park offers the opportunity to experience late British artist Phyllida Barlow’s rich artistic legacy in the public sphere. As Barlow’s first series of outdoor sculptures made from robust long-lasting materials, PRANK marks a notable departure from the artist’s typical use of materials suitable for indoor display, extending her highly influential practice into the realm of public art.

This exhibition is presented by Public Art Fund.

Drawing inspiration from the topography of this special public triangle and the ambient electric color palette of Dan Flavin’s iconic light portrait of Newman (whose studio overlooked this spot), Franklin Street Four casually wears its form. The 4 stands balanced, holding its pose, tensed, drawing out the triangular cipher.

This exhibition is presented by Luhring Augustine.