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Marlborough

Free Money at 137th Street

Crying Giant at 117th Street

Large Bear at 103rd Street

The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, The Broadway Mall Association and Marlborough Gallery are pleased to announce Tom Otterness on Broadway, an exhibition of 25 sculptures by New York sculptor Tom Otterness. The exhibition will stretch from Columbus Circle to Washington Heights and will be on view from September 20 through November 22, 2004. Tom Otterness on Broadway represents the first large display of temporary public art on the Broadway Malls, the landscaped medians on Broadway from 60th to 168th Streets.

“This exhibition is both a tribute to a New York artist’s prolific work and a celebration of the Broadway Malls’ transformation over the last 25 years,” said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “Thanks to the combined efforts of the City and The Broadway Mall Association and other groups including the Lincoln Square BID and Columbia University, this 10-acre stretch of urban green space is now a perfect venue for displaying temporary public art.”

Considered one of the premier public artists working in the United States, Tom Otterness has exhibited widely and completed commissions in the U.S. and abroad. His stylized bronze figures combine into sculptural ensembles that explore the range of human experience, from grand ambition to common foibles, plucking imagery and themes from popular culture and subtly transforming them into humorous commentary. “I'm most excited that the show will cut through so many social and cultural layers of New York City,” said Otterness.

“The moment I first saw Tom Otterness’ work I envisioned the sculptures up and down Broadway enhancing the landscaped malls and New York City,” said Robert F. Herrmann, president of The Broadway Mall Association. The Broadway Mall Association was founded to beautify and maintain the malls of Broadway to restore the public glory of New York City's oldest and most traveled thoroughfare, from Columbus Circle through Harlem to Washington Heights.

“Marlborough Gallery is proud to support this exciting and unprecedented public exhibition of Tom Otterness’ work on Broadway—a great show for all New Yorkers to enjoy,” said President of Marlborough Gallery, Pierre Levai.

Otterness’ art has been exhibited in communities across the globe. In addition to work in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art and The Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, among others, public commissions include installations at the United States Courthouses in Minneapolis and Sacramento, in Battery Park City, and a large scale commission at the 14th Street A/C/E/L subway station in New York City. He is currently completing a major public commission for Museum Beelden aan Zee in The Netherlands. Otterness, a New York resident since the 1970s, works from a studio in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

This show will include Marriage of Real Estate and Money, as well as more recent works that draw characters from fairy tale and myth. Reflecting the artist’s use of scale to establish complex relationships between his sculpture and their surroundings, the work featured in Tom Otterness on Broadway ranges in size from Boy and Dog, which measures a mere 20 inches tall, to Escaping Leg, standing over 20 feet tall.

Parks & Recreation’s temporary public art program has consistently fostered the creation and installation of temporary public art in parks throughout the five boroughs. Since 1967, collaborations with arts organizations and artists have produced hundreds of public art projects in City parks. Committed to the exhibition of art by emerging and established artists, Parks & Recreation has supported projects ranging from international exhibitions in flagship parks to local, community works in neighborhood parks and traffic islands.

Recent revitalization of the Broadway Malls have been made possible through the support of The Broadway Mall Association, the Lincoln Square BID, Columbia University, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, capital allocations from the Borough President and City Council, as well as volunteer organizations including the Jewish Community Center and the L.D. Brandeis High School/Evergreen House. Fabrication, installation, maintenance, and removal of the artwork for this show will be paid for by Marlborough Gallery and Tom Otterness Studio.

CONTACT:
Megan Sheekey/Eric Adolfsen (Parks) (212) 360-1311, www.nyc.gov/parks
Barbara Wagner (The Broadway Mall Association) (212) 843-8035, www.broadwaymall.org
Janis Gardner Cecil (Marlborough Gallery) (212) 541-4900, www.marlboroughgallery.com