Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power

American People Series #18: The Flag is Bleeding by Faith Ringgold

Brooklyn Museum’s exhibit, Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, features the work of over sixty black artists from 1963 to 1983, “one of the most politically, socially, and aesthetically revolutionary periods in American history.” Over 150 artworks in the exhibition address the unjust social conditions facing black Americans. These include Faith Ringgold’s painting of a “bleeding” flag (above). Ringgold, who was inspired by Amiri Baraka, one of the key leaders of the Black Arts Movement, developed a style that she called “super realism” to accurately depict the “oppression faced by Black people as viscerally as possible.” The exhibition is at the Brooklyn Museum through February 3, 2019.

Adorn Me

Tanda Francis, a Brooklyn-based artist who incorporates Victorian and colonial ornamentation into her work, is known for focusing on monumental African female heads and masks and ancient customs and rituals. Adorn Me, an impressive sculpture in Fort Greene Park, is inspired by African sculptural tradition, including Ife portraiture, and is meant to address the under-representation of positive images of and by people of African descent in public artworks and also “provide a healing message during a time of heated debate over monuments erected as symbols of oppression and control.” The sculpture will be in Fort Greene Park through August 17, 2019.

Wake

Wake by artist Mel Chin rises up from the plaza in Times Square "like the beached remains of a massive beast." The boat-like sculpture is modeled on the USS Nightingale, a 19th-century expedition and merchant clipper ship that transported coal, cotton, munitions, and tea, and was also used as a slaving vessel before being commandeered by the US Navy during the American Civil War. According to Chin, the USS Nightingale "crystallizes the ways in which the expanding economies of the past are prologue to our current societal and environmental dilemmas."  The figurehead is of famous 19th century opera star Jenny Lind, known as the “Swedish Nightingale," whose likeness was featured on many ship prows in the New York harbor, including the USS Nightingale. Through the sculpture, Mel Chin opens "a physical and virtual gateway to the future of human existence, inviting participants to contemplate their place within the world’s transforming climate."

The London Mastaba

The London Mastaba on Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park.

The London Mastaba, the first major outdoor public work by the artist Christo in the UK, consists of 7,506 horizontally stacked, painted barrels on an anchored floating platform. The sculpture’s total weight is 600 metric tons, but it only takes up approximately 1% of the lake's total surface area. “It’s a dream come true,” Christo says in ArtNews about the piece. The London Mastaba, which took two years to produce, is entirely funded through the sale of Christo’s original art works. For those who can't make it to Hyde Park, The London Mastaba can also be experienced in virtual reality via the Acute Art app for free. Users of the app can look down on the sculpture from a bird’s eye view and see it at different times, including sunrise and sunset. For those who can make it in person, the sculpture is on view to September 23, 2018. Go see it while you can. It's magnificent.

Narcissus Garden in Rockaway

MoMA PS1 presents Yayoi Kusama’s site-specific installation of Narcissus Garden as part of Rockaway!, a free public art festival in Fort Tilden in Rockaway, Queens. Consisting of 1,500 mirrored stainless steel spheres, Narcissus Garden is on display in a former train garage that dates back to when Fort Tilden was an active US military base. The mirrored metal surfaces reflect the viewers (do you see Joseph?) as well as the industrial and decaying surroundings of the abandoned building. First unofficially presented in 1966 at the 33rd Venice Biennale, Narcissus Garden was installed on the lawn in front of the Italian Pavilion where Kusama stood among the mirrored balls. She tossed the spheres in the air and offered to sell them to visitors for 1,200 lire (approximately $2) in an act of self-promotion as well as a critique of overly commercial contemporary art. This exhibition is free and open to the public Friday through Sunday, 12pm to 6pm, through Labor Day, September 3.

Intermission

Intermission is a new mural by artist Tristan Eaton at Houston and Bowery in New York City. Eaton's piece on the Bowery Wall "recalls memories of beauty, joy and escapism." Not easy, but Eaton accomplishes it with guns, dames, and a well-placed grapefruit. “This piece is meant to be a break from the daily horror of global events, a momentary pause to let your mind wander and escape the collective anxiety felt in the United States today,” Eaton explains on his Instagram. “I was compelled to paint something intentionally apolitical. A literal INTERMISSION from the noise and madness - nothing more.”

Organic Growth Pavilion

Organic Growth by Izaskun Chinchilla Architects (Madrid/London)

A trip to Governors Island, a 172-acre island approximately 800 yards from the southern tip of Manhattan, is a delightful way to spend a summer afternoon. Featuring miles of bike paths, historical reenactments with a canon being fired (fun for the whole family), delicious food, cultural events, and a hammock, this summer the island is also displaying some beautiful outdoor art pieces including the Organic Growth pavilion on the Parade Ground. Taking inspiration from nature and discarded and found materials, the design utilizes broken umbrellas, old stools, and damaged bicycle wheels. The pavilion is composed of elements that can be dismantled and re-used after the summer. "Branches composed of several umbrellas and tripods, can be easily reused as sun, wind, and rain protection in outdoor spaces all around the city. Larger elements can be beautiful indoor chandeliers and can be useful for community centers or other public spaces." The piece is being shown until September 20. If you go, don't forget, the last ferry on the weekend leaves at 7pm. Don't miss it!

Fata Morgana

Fata Morgana by Teresita Fernández.

Madison Square Park has been transformed with the largest and most ambitious outdoor sculpture in the park to date. Fata Morgana, by New York-based artist Teresita Fernández, consists of 500 running feet of golden, mirror-polished discs that create canopies above the pathways (which, by the way, all lead to the newly renovated and re-opened Shake Shack). A "fata morgana" is a mirage seen above the horizon line, and this sculpture "perforated with intricate patterns reminiscent of foliage, will create abstract flickering effects as sunlight filters through the canopy, casting a golden glow across the expanse of the work, paths, and passersby." It really is quite lovely, and in the park until this winter.

Beating Heart

Heartbeat in Times Square.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Brooklyn-based art company Stereotank unveiled this sculpture titled Heartbeat (everyone goes, awwww) at Father Duffy Square. This nine-by-six foot interactive installation (on display until March 8) features lighting effects and six instruments including a xylophone and a South American drum called a tumbadora, all of which visitors can use. Sara Valente, who created the sculpture with her husband Marcelo Ertorteguy, said: "'It’s like a melting pot of heartbeat sounds, just like New York City.'"

Light Cave

Light Cave by LA duo FriendsWithYou is the current public art exhibition in the plaza of The Standard Hotel. The duo Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III say they wanted to create “'a place of wonder and awe, play and exploration.'"