Mass Medium, Made of 102,000 Pounds of Granite, Along Broadway in NYC’s Garment District

The Garment District Alliance continues on its creative track of choosing art that blends in with our urban environment. This month, Garment District Art on the Plazas and Arterventions (part of the New York City Department of Transportation’s Art Program) present Mass Medium, by renowned sculpture artist Harry H. Gordon. The five works, entitled Sandalphon, Snaphance, Enki, Flying Canoe and Grasshopper, collectively weigh 102,000 pounds and were created from fine Pennsylvania black granite.

Sandalphon, 2010, black granite 12′ x 8′ x 4′   Located on Broadway between 41st and 40th Streets

Each piece was artfully assembled into five stone sculptures. The choice of medium granite, was a good choice, since Manhattan is largely a protrusion of this rock, rising a few hundred feet from sea-level. Beginning at 41st Street moving south to 36th street, below are the five sculptures that make up the installation Mass Medium.

Grasshopper, black granite, located on Broadway between 40th and 39th Streets

Snaphance, 2011, black granite 8′ x 8′ x 6′, located on Broadway between 39th and 38th Streets

Flying Canoe, 2015, black granite, 10′ x 10′ x 8′, located on Broadway between 38th and 37th Streets

The mall, which extends from 41st Street to 36th Street on Broadway, is a wide, traffic-free area filled with tables and chairs, and carved granite benches, interspersed among large flower pots. The pedestrian area feels like an oasis between a bustling sidewalk and Broadway’s streaming traffic. You will find one sculpture piece on view in between each of the five streets.

Enki, 2007, black granite, 9′ x 10′ x 7.6′, located on Broadway between 37th and 36th Streets

The artist, Harry H. Gordon, was born in Kansas, and first began sculpting in a community art class in his early years. He so impressed his teacher that it was arranged for him to apprentice with Boris Blai, a figurative sculptor who once worked in the studio of Auguste Rodin. Mr. Gordon went on to receive both a bachelors and masters of fine art in sculpture, and has participated in more than sixty exhibitions over the past twenty-five years. He now works out of his studio in Lambertville, New Jersey, creating works that he hopes are “larger than life.”

Sculpture artist Harry H. Gordon with Enki in his studio, 2007

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