Through the NYC Parks and The Fund for Park Avenue, Marlborough Gallery has brought us seven Santiago Calatrava sculptures that will grace the Park Avenue mall from June 8th through mid-November beginning at East 52nd Street. The seven sculptures are of painted aluminum construction and range in size, with the tallest piece standing eighteen feet. The traffic median has most recently hosted works like Ewerdt Hilgemann’s implosion sculptures and Alice Aycock’s Park Avenue Paper Chase.
The sculptures reside practically in the artist’s back yard, since he purchased three adjacent townhouses on Park Avenue between 69th and 70 streets. Untapped Cities showcased the interior of his studio/home last summer, via an event with the Municipal Art Society.
In describing the seven Park Avenue sculptures, Calatrava said that “their relation to the natural world suggests a link between man and nature, implying the sculptures are found objects in a human forest.”  The sculptures range in color with three red, two silver and two black, and the Park Avenue installation runs the meridian from 52 Street to 57th Street.
As for his long awaited World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the official website indicates that the end is not in sight (and the media has eagerly reported on the controversy.  However a small part of the Hub is going to open this month, with a north-south passageway connecting the PATH platforms to new entrances at Vesey and Liberty Streets.
While you’re on 52nd Street, you can also visit Urs Fischer’s Big Clay #4 at the Seagram Building, or step inside the iconic Four Seasons Restaurant. Get in touch with the author at AFineLyne.