This summer, artists have been hard at work addressing social issues through art in New York City’s parks, on walls, and even on lamp posts. September brings a host of new works: The Studio Museum extends outside of its walls in Harlem to bring site-specific art installations to four parks from 113th Street to 145th Street. We hunted down glass pigeons on lamp posts throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, works which harken to those of Mosaic Man, who also recently brought back his work to the East Village, and checked out mural works throughout the city.
Here are 12 outdoor art installations not to miss in September:
1. Logan Hicks Presents “The Story of My Life” on The Bowery Wall
Photo taken on the last day of painting
After some weather-related false starts, The Bowery Wall now exhibits an ode to the artist’s ten years in New York City. The seventy-foot long, intricate stencil mural contains portraits of family and friends in treasured places, with the process of creating the work as exciting as the work itself. “The Story of My Life” by artist Logan Hicks can be found on The Bowery Wall is located on the corner of Houston Street and the Bowery.
2. XXX Times Square With Love
With an ode to XXX vintage Times Square, a new installation hit the plaza last week. XXX Times Square With Love – three X-shaped outdoor loungers that can each accommodate four people. The new installation is presented by Times Square Arts and J. Mayer H., and has been a huge hit with locals and tourists, who are truly getting off their feet, stretching out, checking cell phones, taking photos, and even chatting with the strangers across the X from them! Officially, the X-shape of the chairs is inspired by the shape of the intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue.
XXX Times Square With Love can be found at the Broadway Pedestrian Plaza between 43rd and 44th Streets.
3. The Arch of Triumph (Formerly Arch of Palmyra)
It has been confirmed. The replica of the Arch of Triumph (Palmyra Arch) will be arriving in New York City on September 19th, on the heels of World Heritage Strategy Forum at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts from September 9-11. The reproduction is a model of the 1,800 year old arch, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which was destroyed by Islamic State Militants last October. The 20-foot, 20 ton model, made in Italy from Egyptian marble, is intended as an act of defiance, and to show that restoration is possible through new digital technology.
The Arch will be in New York City for one week, with a location yet to be announced, with associated programming and exhibitions at the New York Public Library, the Morgan Library and the Grolier Club, as well as educational programming in local schools.The programming and exhibits will be welcoming to the blind and sight-impaired visitors.The Arch of Triumph made its debut at World Heritage Week on Trafalgar Square in London from April 19 – 21 of this year. A similar Arch went on view at the 2016 Venice Biennale, where it will be on exhibit from May to November 2016
4. Mosaic Man’s Lampposts Return to East Village
As we reported in mid-August following a private event with Jim Power, the Mosaic Man, his works will return to the East Village as part of the Astor Place Redesign which should conclude in September. Some are already installed so you can check them out now, and it’s expected that a total of ten lampposts will get the iconic artistic treatment. Some readers may recall Power removing his works as part of “Mosaic Massacre 2014,” a pre-emptive strike before the city removed them before the redesign. We’re glad there has been an agreement made between Power and the city and hope more mosaic lampposts will return the East Village in the future.
5. Is the Astor Place Cube Returning?
There were many false prophesies for the return of the Astor Place Cube this summer. The latest we have from the New York City Department of Design and Construction, which is overseeing the cube’s rehabilitation somewhere in New Jersey, is “As of now we are still anticipating early Fall for the return of the cube.” We hope that means September, but they wouldn’t give us any more specifics than that.
6. Studio Museum in Harlem, Four Artists in Four Parks, Entitled inHarlem
Kori Newkirk, Sentra on view in St. Nicholas Park near 137th Street
On the heels of announcing a $122 million new design for The Studio Museum in Harlem which will begin construction as early as 2017, the Museum is broadening its scope beyond its walls, and the entire Harlem community is their palette. For the inHarlem exhibit, four artists were commissioned to create work for four historic Harlem parks. The opening reception was recently held in Marcus Garvey Park. Other parks included are Jackie Robinson Park, St. Nicholas Park, and Morningside Park.
At the B/C station at 137th Street in St. Nicholas Park, reflective fringe curtains frame the steps above the entrance to the subway. Artist Kori Newkirk created Sentra to be reminiscent of a site for a ceremonial procession.
In addition, a collaboration with the New York Public Library will co-present literature and family related programs at the George Bruce branch library on 125th Street in Harlem, including an art-making, storytelling and book signing series, as well as Studio Salon, a series of talks, book clubs and writing workshops for adults.
7. Brooklyn Botanic Garden Presents Art in the Garden by Shayne Dark
The Canadian artist Shayne Dark has been working as artist-in-residence at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden this summer. Known for working with materials from nature, trunks, roots, limbs, and tree branches, the grounds of the Garden now hold three of his large-scale sculptures.
“Tanglewood” is constructed from reclaimed cedar logs, and pigmented blue. “Tanglewood” can be found in the Osborne Garden. “Drop Stones 1,2,3” are made of Corten steel and are located overlooking the Lily Pool Terrace. “Windfall” was created from apple tree root balls, and is located in the Steinhardt Conservatory.
The works entitled “Art in the Garden: Shayne Dark” will be on view through July 2017 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
8. Artist GB Installs Glass Pigeons Throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan
The Brooklyn artist known only as GB began by nesting one glass pigeon in his own neighborhood, Bay Ridge. But soon after, glass pigeons started popping up all over Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Red Hook, Sunset Park, Park Slope, the Lower East Side, Soho, Union Square, Chelsea, the Meatpacking District – and we are still tracking them. All of the glass pigeons are placed in areas of the city that have a special meaning for the native New Yorker.
The glass pigeons are cut from remnants left over from commissioned pieces. According to the Brooklyn Heights Blog, 65 out of the 200 have been fabricated and 54 have been mounted. One is nesting as far away as Costa Rica.
GB’s goal is to nest 200 glass pigeons by the official end of the summer, September 21st. He hopes that those who locate them will tag the artist on Instagram at @gb_pigeon_nyc. So, let your search begin!
9. Evolving Terrain Exhibit Opens in Fort Tryon Park
The outdoor exhibit, Evolving Terrain in Fort Tryon Park features sculpture work by four artists. Audrey Shachnow created “Golden Pears” (above) out of concrete, wood, aqua resin, styrofoam and acrylic. Anthony Heinz May created “Persieverrance” from a recycled tree trunk. Matthias Neumann brought the park “bench V” which is made out of wood, and Tom Monsees “Tripod” is made from white pigmented cement. The exhibit is presented by Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance and the Fort Tryon Park Trust. The four pieces can be found throughout the park, and will be on view through December 1, 2016.
10. The Public Art Fund Presents David Shrigley: MEMORIAL at The Doris C. Freedman Plaza
The artist David Shrigley plays on the historical significance of our granite public monuments in a comedic tone by honoring the mundane act of making a grocery list. You will find this 17 foot high by 7 feet wide single-slab, granite list installation installed at The Doris C. Freedman Plaza, the new exhibit from the The Public Art Fund. David Shrigley: MEMORIAL will be on view beginning September 7th at 9am at Fifth Avenue at 60th Street.
The artist will be also speaking at The New School, as part of the Fall 2016 Talks Series, Mining the Minutiae, which brings David Shrigley together with Heather and Ivan Morison, and Spencer Finch, whose practices also mine the minutiae of collective experiences. Mr. Shrigley’s work focuses on the public realm and include “Really Good,” a ten-foot bronze sculpture which will be installed this fall in London’s Trafalgar Square; a design for Kingsley, the official mascot for a Scottish Premiership football team (2015); and “How Are You Feeling?”, The High Line’s billboard commission (2012). Spencer Finch also had the longest running public art work on the High Line and will be unleash a mini redwood forest in downtown Brooklyn October 1st.
11. Aby Rosen Invites Artists Groundswell to Showcase at 11 Howard
The public art group Groundswell, with Jeff Koons acting as mentor, was recently invited to create a site specific mural measuring 150 feet by 50 feet on the south facing wall at 11 Howard Street. The property, 11 Howard, is the latest venture of RFR co-founder Aby Rosen, who also owns the famed 190 Bowery. The mural represents and celebrates historic Soho, paying homage to Jean-Michel Basquiat repurposing his iconic crown and utilizing other symbols for fashion, music, food, and even Little Italy. The artists at Groundswell who designed the mural are Gabriela Balderas, Anayshah Bashier, Durell Baxter, Nafeesa Davis, Claire Havilland, Nathaniel James, and Publio Lantiqua.
12. #NotACrime Paints 15 Murals in Harlem
TatsCru mural for #NotACrime located at Madison Avenue and 127th Street
The campaign #NotACrime, put forth by Education is Not A Crime, is a series of fifteen murals throughout Harlem, with a message of raising awareness of human rights abuses in Iran. The goal is to have the fifteen murals completed in advance of the 2016 United Nations General Assembly on September 13. They are now close to completion, and Untapped Cities will bring you all fifteen in early September. In the meantime, you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Parisian street artist Astro painted his mural entitled “Astro’s Gate” on Frederick Douglass Boulevard near 123rd Street
13. When I Grow Up at Anchorage Plaza in Brooklyn
Vincent Tremeau and Meredith Hutchison’s exhibit “One Day, I Will” focuses on the struggle of abused youth throughout the world whose rights are regularly denied, The photographic project for Mr. Tremeau began in 2014 in the Central African Republic. Ms. Hutchison’s “The Vision Not Victim” aims to give adolescent girls a chance to explore their aspirations through art. Their combined exhibit documents young people between the ages of six and eighteen, and merges the two artistic projects. When I Grow Up will be on view through October 21, 2016 at Washington and Prospect Streets at Anchorage Plaza in Dumbo, Brooklyn.
TatsCru mural for #NotACrime located at Madison Avenue and 127th Street
