Public Art Reaction

The public work of art I found in my neighborhood was located in near the entrance of an upscale apartment building.  It is a statue of an upright human figure next to a column.  It is made of flat pieces of stone, possible granite, stacked upon each other.  The slabs of stone are rough and slightly jagged.  The slabs are of slightly different hues of an earthy gray.  This statue looks almost as if it could be from ancient times.  It clearly has classical influences.  The column appears to be influence by Hellenistic culture.  The human figure has their arms crossed almost like an Egyptian mummy would.  There is no doubt that the artist was influenced by some archaic Mediterranean culture.  The statue looks like something that could be found in the ruins on a remote Greek island.  The form of the human figure is rounded and indistinct like a statue that has suffered from hundreds of years of rain and wind erosion; similar to the Egyptian sphinx.  I believe it was the intention of the artist to create a work of art that reflected its ancient influences. 

The statue is in the garden next to the doorway of a luxury apartment building on 96^th street between Lexington and 3^rd.  Off to the side and behind the statue is a plaza/garden that is very well kept and nice.  The statue seems almost to be a watchman of this quaint garden space.  The statue fits well into its surroundings.  As it stands as a watchman over the garden, it also stands watch over the entrance to the apartment building.  It looks good as part of the garden in which it stands because of the natural look of the statue; its edges are not straight and clean.  They are rough and look as if they were pulled right out of a river. 

I have walked by this statue numerous times but I really noticed it after we vised Moma PS1.  There was a work of art from the same artist which was a part of the same collection of stone figures.  When I used to walk by I didn’t think as much of the statue because, although I liked it, I thought it was maybe some corporate art.  My opinion admittedly changed when I found out that the artist was more renowned in the art world than I would have expected.  I think this piece would have initially turned my head more had I first seen it in a museum or gallery.

Boaz Vaadia

“Yahkin”

Stone sculpture

1993