Delightful Sculptures Underground

Life Underground (1998) is a permanent public art installation at the 14th Street - 8th Avenue Station (ACEL trains) created by Tom Otterness. The installation is a series of whimsical miniature bronze sculptures depicting cartoon like characters showing people and animals in various situations, and additional abstract sculptures. The delightful sculptures are scattered throughout the station platforms, stairs, benches and passageways. Otterness said the subject of the work is "the impossibility of understanding life in New York" and describes the arrangement of the individual pieces as being “scattered in little surprises.”

"Unconditional Surrender" - Remembering the End of World War II in Times Square

Unconditional Surrender, the 26 foot tall bronze sculpture created by the acclaimed artist, Seward Johnson, © 2004,2005 is on display at 44th Street and Broadway in Times Square until today. Located at the exact spot the famous kiss took place, the sculpture was inspired by the famous moment in Times Square on August l4, 1945, the day that WW II ended. The artwork memorializes the celebratory moment in US history marking the conclusion of World War II.

Henry Moore's RECLINING FIGURE

Henry Moore's bronze sculpture, RECLINING FIGURE (1965), dominates the newly reconfigured reflecting pool basin at Lincoln Center. The massive artwork creates a welcome contrast to the geometric architecture of the Lincoln Center Theater in the background. Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are displayed as public art around the world. His forms typically depict mother-and-child or reclining figures, like the one pictured above. Moore's works are usually suggestive of the female body, apart from a phase in the 1950s when he sculpted family groups. His forms are generally pierced or contain hollow spaces. Many interpreters of his work compare the undulating form of his reclining figures to the landscape of his birthplace.

Manolo Valdes Sculptures on Broadway

Sixteen bronze sculptures by MANOLO VALDES are currently on display along Broadway from Columbus Circle to 166th Street. Shown above are Dama II (2003) at Dante Park at 63rd Street and Reina Mariana (2005) at the south entrance to the 72nd Street subway station. The sculptures will be on exhibit until January 23, 2011.

From nycgovparks.org:

Manolo Valdes is one of the most important and respected Spanish artists working today. Best known for his passion for past masters from Zurbaran to Velazquez, Matisse to Lichtenstein, Valdes uses their work "as a pretext" ("como pretexto") to create an entirely new aesthetic object. For example, six massive sculptures entitled Reina Mariana, each over eight feet in height and weighing over two thousand pounds, depict Queen Mariana as immortalized by Velazquez. Four of these sculptures with their abstract and simplified forms will grace the famous city landmark, Columbus Circle, as well as two at the south entrance to the 72nd Street subway station. Also sited at the subway station is Odalisca, 2006, a sculpture whose subtle forms refer to works of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. Another highlight of the exhibition is the series of six monumental bronzes – all over 12 feet in height – depicting female heads, their calm facial composure and structured equilibrium offset rhythmically by dynamic ornamental head-pieces. The exhibition will also include the New York debut of Valdes' two equestrian sculptures Dama a caballo V, 2008 and Caballero V, 2008, which were inspired by Velazquez's seventeenth-century portraits.