Fort Tryon Park

Inner And Outer Space: Three Sculptures By Alan Binstock

Through September 13, 2013

The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, in conjunction with Causey Contemporary, is pleased to announce Alan Binstock’s public art exhibition in Ft. Tryon Park in northern Manhattan. The exhibition includes three sculptures—Wayfinder, located across from the New Leaf Café, and Third Portal and Trance Ender, found along the Stan Michels Promenade. Made of resin, shattered tempered glass and steel, all three pieces appear to be tools offering direction or pathways to discovery and (inner) navigation.
“These sculptures are appropriately placed along the promenade that overlooks the Heather Garden, so the natural colors of the garden are reflected in Binstock’s luminous sculptures,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Veronica M. White. “Binstock’s sculptures are a great addition to the fine art that has graced the paths of Fort Tryon Park.”

Alan Binstock also worked as a jeweler, carpenter, cabinetmaker, and taught yoga, verging close to a monastic life in an ashram community. Binstock currently works as an architect at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He finds the continued exposure to near and deep space images, as well as Eastern metaphysics, powerful influences on his work. Wayfinder borrows and interprets the forms of ancient armillaries and astrolabes, as well as Hubble imagery. Mantras and words of peace are inscribed in the outer ring and the center is composed of shattered tempered glass and dyed resin that catches the light that shines through the trees overhead. Trance Ender was inspired by the idea of energy centers (chakras) referenced in Eastern philosophies. With an interest in transmitting these ideas, Binstock mimicked the form of transmission towers. His new sculpture, Third Portal is also made of colorful shattered glass and caste resins that resemble the rotating cosmos.
Binstock investigates forms that capture the wonder of the of the explorer’s outward search to find meaning in the universe while expressing the nature of the seeker’s inner exploration. Powers of Ten the 1968 American documentary short film written and directed by Ray and Charles Eames made clear to Binstock the similarities between deep space and the realm of sub-atomic particles. This sparked his fascination with plate glass and shattered tempered glass and the interplay between the micro and macro worlds seen in telescopes and microscopes. He smashes glass and “cold fuses” it with resin—layered, sometimes chiseled, ground and polished like stone. Its transparency captures natural light and allows the viewer to see beneath the surface. Radiance becomes a part of the color palette, the changing qualities of daylight enriches the sculptures.
Binstock was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. His formal fine arts education began in New York's High School of Music and Art, followed by undergraduate studies in Fine Art at Hunter College, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969. He later earned a Master of Architecture degree the University of Maryland - School of Architecture in 1985. Before going back to school, he taught Fine Arts in a South Bronx Junior High. Binstock became a Registered Architect, working in several area firms, and currently is an architect at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. His work ranges from small pieces to large public commissions and has exhibited at American University Museum, Washington, DC; The American Center for Physics, Maryland; and Grounds for Sculpture, New Jersey, among others.
Causey Contemporary cultivates and represents contemporary artists from their emergence through their maturity. We are dedicated to helping collectors understand and enjoy their artworks within historical, cultural and social contexts. Our mission is to nourish dialogue and relationships between artists, collectors and curators. We strive to provide a multilayered platform for each artist’s individual voice, and to help that voice be heard by new and seasoned collectors alike.
Parks’ public art program, ‘Art in the Parks,’ has consistently fostered the creation and installation of temporary public art in parks throughout the five boroughs. Since 1967, collaborations with arts organizations and artists have produced hundreds of public art projects in New York City parks. www.nyc.gov/parks/art