Headless, armless

Ah, how nice it is to live in New York, where the streets are a sculpture gallery.

Public art in Philly

 

New York does not suffer for public art, but I was blown away by all the great murals and mosaics and sculptures and more in Philadelphia. Above, two views of a mosaic installed in a parking lot; Philart.net has great and thorough guides to some of the city's offerings, and Public Art Philadelphia is also helpful.

Face to face

Loved these "sketches" of faces in black paint on the sidewalks of Greenpoint: but who's the artist? What's the story? Wish I knew.

Library love

In Beacon last weekend, the town was pretty quiet because it had just snowed. Without many people on the streets, we got to admire the book-related art on the main drag. Looks like there's lots of great stuff going on at the Howland Public Library!

Wild colors at Welling Court

We've been by a few times before, but it's always fun to stop and see the art at Welling Court (near 30th Avenue and 12th Street in Astoria). This was the second year that art (under the aegis of Ad Hoc Art) was splashed across buildings in the area; the new pieces were unveiled in June. Artists include Alice Mizrachi, Fumero (who did Einstein, below), Darkclouds, Lady Pink, OverUnder, Ron English, Stormie Mills, TooFly, and many, many more.

Echo in the park

Jaume Plensa's Echo, which was installed in Madison Square Park in early May and will be on display through mid-August, is breathtaking. About the piece:

[The sculpture] depicts a nine-year-old girl from Plensa’s Barcelona neighborhood, lost in a state of thoughts and dreams. Standing forty-four feet tall at the center of the park’s expansive Oval Lawn, Echo’s towering stature and white marble-dusted surface harmoniously reflect the historic limestone buildings that surround the park. Both monumental in size and inviting in subject, the peaceful visage of Echo creates a tranquil and introspective atmosphere amid the cacophony of central Manhattan.

Plensa’s sculpture also refers to an episode in Greek mythology in which the loquacious nymph Echo is forced as punishment to repeat only the thoughts of others. Plensa’s Echo plays on the narrative of this Greek myth by depicting a young girl’s face in a state of reverie, translating this sculptural portrait into a physical monument of the internalized voices of the thousands of daily visitors to Madison Square Park.

Papering up the walls

Cool ... public-art installation? Pasting project? Not quite sure how to classify it, but doesn't matter: I like it anyway. World Famous Design Junkies features Nerea De Diego's "3,000 Posters Plastered on the Street" (or, "Intervention").

Art and urbanity

Cast your vote in the urbancanvas design competition; make NYC (more) beautiful. About the program:

The urbancanvas design competition is a unique opportunity to challenge professional artists and designers to create printed artwork for temporary protective structures at construction sites that will beautify New York City's streetscape and promote maintenance of these structures. The competition seeks complementary designs for different types of temporary protective structures located on City-owned property: construction fences, sidewalk sheds, supported scaffolds and cocoon systems.

Ho ho ho

Santa played some reindeer games yesterday in Hoyt Playground in Astoria before hightailing it over to Wonderbar. Santa then got annoyed by pretentious posturing and warmed up with milk and cookies before crashing around 2:30, but that's another story.