ritish artist Antony Gormley conquers New York’s Flatiron District with his legion of naked men, inhabiting pathways and sidewalks and perched on ledges and rooftops on Manhattan’s East Side. Cast from the artist’s own body in iron and fiberglass, the 31 anatomically correct statues literally swarm Madison Square Park. Winner of the 1994 Turner Prize, Gormley is celebrated in the UK for his spectacular public art works. His massive Angel of the North sculpture extends its wings high on a hill in Gateshead, while 100 life-size, cast-iron figures in Another Place stretch out into the sea on Crosby Beach. The New York installation, which is supported by its own website with a map, photos, and video, remains on view through August 15. Note: Following recent controversy about whether his sculptures looked like jumpers, we asked Gormley to comment. Here’s what he had to say: “I am confident that New Yorkers and visitors to this city will understand that the figures are works of art. The ambition of Event Horizon is to activate the skyline and to perhaps make people visually aware of their surroundings. Silhouetted against the sky these bodyforms look out into space at large asking: Where does human evolution fit in the scheme of things?”
www.antonygormley.com
