Monday, July 25, 2011

FIGURATIONS: Fashionably Nude Female Sculptures In The Fashion District's Broadway Plaza

Figurations: The Fashion District Pilings Project is a new exhibit on the Broadway Plazas in the Fashion District from 36th to 41st Street. Joan Benefiel created 30 translucent resin female nude sculptures that "provoke and encourage narrative interpretation." The glowing pieces are installed on tall wooden pilings. Although I think the figures are too small for the venue, they appear simultaneously confident and pensive, thoughtful and restless, carefree and precarious. They glow beautifully, the intensity dependent on the amount of light around them. The work was selected by the Fashion Center. The display continues through the end of August.

Joan Benefiel describes the work as follows: “The awkward beauty of these figures in this unlikely environment is symbolic of the balancing act we perform as we make our way in a challenging and changing world. And that includes making our way up and down the packed Broadway blocks in the summer sun. The figures simultaneously convey a sense of precariousness and joy.”

No comments: