The Outside Art of Madison Square Park
Go outside and be with the chaotic.
I am not the biggest fan of public sculpture, which is often dismal. Scaled metal incomprehension, static interpretations of feelings we never had, totems we’re visually forced to revere— awful. There are exceptions that prove the rule, but the rule remains— boring.
But Madison Square Park serves consistent exceptions
The Art Exhibitions by the Madison Square Park Conservancy are the consistent exceptions— a revolving set of innovative installations we love.
Here’s a great NYT primer on the groundbreaking exhibitions of the park created by former curator Brooke Kamin Rapaport.
Since 2013, Rapaport has tapped 22 artists, including Maya Lin, Teresita Fernández, Erwin Redl, Abigail DeVille and Rose B. Simpson, to create ambitious projects in the 6.2-acre oasis rung by skyscrapers and traversed by some 60,000 visitors a day. Martin Puryear’s 40-foot-high sculpture “Big Bling,” presented in 2016, was the springboard to the artist’s solo exhibition in 2019 at the Venice Biennale for the U.S. Pavilion. That Pavilion, organized by Rapaport, brought international prominence to the conservancy as the commissioning institution.
We wrote about My Neighbor’s Garden, Sheila Pepe, Madison Square Park, December 2023 (full photo album) and I’ve documented a number of other exhibits.
Larry Bell: “Improvisations in the Park”
The current show, ending this month, but still there, is Larry Bell: “Improvisations in the Park”. We visited last week— here’s full documentation.
Shahzia Sikander: Havah...to breathe, air, life
Cristina Iglesias: Landscape and Memory
Hugh Hayden: Brier Patch
Brier Patch, Hugh Hayden, Madison Square Park,March 2022
Maya Lin: Ghost Forest
Ghost Forest, Maya Lin, Madison Square Park, 2021
A glorious city park has many spaces
The dog park is sublime
Yet we long for the days of the temporary dog park, which was chaotic and glorious
They also have programs and tours, like this on set for tomorrow at noon: Madison Square Park: The Gilded Age, Before, & Beyond. I assume they’ll cover Two Titans of the Gilded Age, Entwined in Art and Life and their Admiral David Glasgow Farragut statue. Here’s a description:
Join Executive Director Holly Leicht to explore the colorful history of Madison Square Park and its surrounding neighborhood. From pre-colonial times to today, the park has been at the center of social, cultural and political happenings in New York City. Look forward to tidbits about local figures, fun facts and light exercise as we journey to the past throughout the park.