Arts & Entertainment

Could This Giant Pigeon Tower Over The High Line?

The High Line has announced 12 shortlisted sculptures that could be installed next year in its public art space near Hudson Yards.

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"Dinosaur," by the artist Iván Argote, is one of 12 finalists for the High Line's next art installations. It's described as "Dinosaur is a giant, realistically-painted aluminum pigeon realized at the size of a Tyrannosaurus rex."
"Dinosaur," by the artist Iván Argote, is one of 12 finalists for the High Line's next art installations. It's described as "Dinosaur is a giant, realistically-painted aluminum pigeon realized at the size of a Tyrannosaurus rex." (Courtesy of High Line Art)

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The votes are in, and the High Line has announced a shortlist of a dozen sculptures that are being considered for the elevated park's next major art installations.

Two winners will be selected from the 12 finalists. They will be installed in 2022 and 2024, respectively, on the Plinth — a rotating public art space on 30th Street, along the High Line's newest section near Hudson Yards.

The shortlist was announced Thursday after members of the public voted on 80 initial artist proposals for the Plinth.

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The eclectic contenders range from "Dinosaur," a giant aluminum pigeon by the Colombian artist Iván Argote, to "Maelstrom," a trio of "glistening, wind-battered palm trees" by the New York-based artist Teresita Fernández.

Through April, scaled-down maquettes, or models, of each proposal will be on view to the public at the High Line's Coach Passage on 30th Street.

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The Plinth's first commission, "Brick House" by Simone Leigh, opened in 2019 and will be in place until later this year. Each chosen commission stays in place for 18 months.

Here's more about each shortlisted submission, with descriptions from High Line Art:

Teresita Fernández (b. 1968, Miami, Florida, United States) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Maelstrom depicts a group of glistening, wind-battered palm trees, posing questions about land, power, and decolonization. (High Line Art)
Kapwani Kiwanga (b. 1978, Hamilton, Canada) lives and works in Paris, France. On growth (working title) is a sculpture of a fern encased in a dichroic glass structure, evoking natural history, botanic technology, and global economics. (High Line Art)
Banu Cennetoğlu (b. 1970, Ankara, Turkey) lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey. In right?, Cennetoğlu’s proposed sculpture, the artist writes each article of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, published by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, in letter-shaped balloons. (High Line Art)
Rafa Esparza (b. 1981, Los Angeles, California, United States) lives and works in Los Angeles, California, United States. KT Hyperspace is an Olmec monument, made from the artist’s family’s adobe recipe, distorted as if on the edge of a wormhole. (High Line Art)
Mary Sibande (b. 1982, Barberton, South Africa) lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa. Sibande’s proposal Old wars are out and a new reason of humanity is in recreates the pedestal that elevates a bronze statue of the Dutch colonial navigator, Jan Van Riebeek, in Cape Town. In Sibande’s sculpture, the statue is absent, and the crumbling pedestal is pecked by red chickens. (High Line Art)
Lu Pingyuan (b. 1984, Jinhua, Zhejiang province, China) lives and works in Shanghai, China. Tree is a sacred, ancient mountain pine tree as an anthropomorphic cartoon.
Andra Ursuţa (b. 1979, Salonta, Romania) lives and works in New York, New York, United States. Broken Obelisk is a translucent sculpture of an anthropomorphic obelisk bent into a seated position.
Pamela Rosenkranz (b. 1979, Uri, Switzerland) lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland. Old Tree is a bright red and pink tree, the color evoking the internal systems of the human body. (High Line Art)
Nina Beier (b. 1975, Aarhus, Denmark) lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Women & Children is a fountain composed of generic found sculptures of women and children, with water streaming from their eyes as tears. (High Line Art)
Nick Cave (b. 1959, Fulton, Missouri, United States) lives and works in Chicago, Illinois, United States. A·mal·gam is a sculpture cast from found tree branches, vintage toile flowers, and ceramic birds. (High Line Art)
Margarita Cabrera (b. 1973, Monterrey, Mexico) lives and works in El Paso, Texas, United States. UPLIFT New York comprises a flock of birds modeled on papel picado wings with the bodies of chopped-up confiscated firearms; Cabrera proposes art-making workshops with local immigrant and gun control groups that would then inform the final sculpture. (High Line Art)

Related coverage: High Line Asks Public To Vote On New Art Installations

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