Les Lalanne on Park Avenue
-
-
The New York City Parks Public Art Program, in conjunction with Paul Kasmin Gallery, and in cooperation with the Fund for Park Avenue Sculpture Committee, presents the first-ever, large-scale outdoor exhibition in the U.S. of Claude & François-Xavier Lalanne’s sculptures. From September 12 – November 20, 2009 more than eight monumental works and a single work comprised of 12 individual sculptures will span multiple-sites on Park Avenue between 52nd and 57thStreet.
Featured works include Pomme de New York by Claude Lalanne (b.1924), a large-scale bronze sculpture of an apple, epitomizing the monumentality of the city’s iconic image (located on the North side of 52nd Street), and François-Xavier Lalanne’s (1927–2008) last sculpture, Singe Avisé (Très Grand), a cross-legged monkey with a pensive expression (located on the North side of 57th Street). Visitors will experience Claude’s whimsical visions of the natural world in works like Choupatte (Très Grand), an anthropomorphized cabbage with bird’s feet, textured and colored by verdigris (located on the South side of 54th); and Nouveau Lapin de Victoire, 2007, a cane-carrying rabbit standing upright (located on the North side of 54th Street). François-Xavier’s works on view similarly explore the intersection between humanity and animals lending an iconic presence; Oiseau de nuit (grand) the owl, 2004, a symbol of wisdom, perches knowingly atop its bronze pedestal (located on the South side of 55th Street), while Wapiti, 1996, a North-American deer looks over its shoulder, making viewers aware of the animals’ perspective (located on the South side of 53rd Street). Also on view will be François-Xavier’s Moutons, 1988-1994, which features a life-size flock of twelve sheep and lambs, crafted from epoxy and bronze (located between 52nd & 53rd Streets).
-
“It’s an honor to present the first major outdoor exhibition of the work of renowned French artists Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne on New York’s celebrated Park Avenue,” said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “The artists’ iconic sculptures, including one of New York’s most enduring symbols—the ‘big’ apple—are sure to delight New Yorkers and visitors alike. I would like to thank the Paul Kasmin Gallery, the Fund for Park Avenue Sculpture Committee, and Parks’ Public Art Program for bringing this exciting exhibition to New York City.”
Having rediscovered the Renaissance art of casting forms from life, then employing contemporary electro-plating techniques, Claude Lalanne achieves a delicacy and sensitivity in her work unparalleled in cast bronze. François-Xavier Lalanne similarly found inspiration for his works in nature. In his words, "The animal world constitutes the richest and most varied forms on the planet." His subjects consist of a menagerie of animals, stylized forms oftentimes married with functionality. His works achieve streamlined elegance in their profound simplicity.
The Lalanne’s work, known individually and collectively since the 1960s, has been exhibited extensively in important exhibitions, and most recently, featured prominently in the sale of the collection of Yves Saint Laurent, Christie’s. They are represented in major private and public collections including: the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (New York); Musée Nationale d'Art Moderne/Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris); Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris); the City of Paris; the City of Santa Monica; and, the City of Jerusalem.
The Lalanne’s are the latest in a roster of distinguished artists to exhibit on Park Avenue, including Lynda Benglis, Fernando Botero, Jean DuBuffet, Keith Haring, Robert Indiana, Louise Nevelson, and, Tom Otterness. Parks and Recreation’s 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 New York City parks.
-
Join our Newsletter
* denotes required fields
We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.
-
Explore
-
Alma Allen
May 16 – June 22, 2024 509 West 27th Street, New YorkThe gallery’s third solo exhibition of work by Alma Allen (b. 1970) brings together new freestanding sculpture and wall reliefs. This body of work evolves various compositional and material directions explored in Allen’s recent site-specific solo exhibition Nunca Solo at Museo Anahuacalli in Mexico City, demonstrating the artist’s ongoing experimentation into the ability of matter to embody contemplations on free will, consciousness, and the nature of time. -
NARES TRACES
May 16 – June 22, 2024 297 Tenth Avenue, New YorkThe fifteenth solo exhibition at the gallery of work by multidisciplinary artist Jamie Nares (b. 1953) examines over 100 works on paper in a variety of media—namely oil, ink, and enamel—made after refocusing her artistic attention from film to painting in the early 1980s. Coolly perceptive, Nares’ works on paper share the same conceptual focus on movement, rhythm, and measurements of time that has driven the artist’s various bodies of work over the last fifty years. This exhibition points to paper as an essential instrument in Nares’ ongoing exploration of these themes.
-
-
Explore
- Diana Al-Hadid
- Alma Allen
- Theodora Allen
- Sara Anstis
- Ali Banisadr
- Tina Barney
- Judith Bernstein
- JB Blunk
- Mattia Bonetti
- William N. Copley
- Cynthia Daignault
- Ian Davenport
- Max Ernst
- Liam Everett
- Leonor Fini
- Barry Flanagan
- Walton Ford
- Jane Freilicher
- vanessa german
- Daniel Gordon
- Alexander Harrison
- Elliott Hundley
- Lee Krasner
- Les Lalanne
- Matvey Levenstein
- Lyn Liu
- Robert Motherwell
- Jamie Nares
- Nengi Omuku
- Robert Polidori
- Elliott Puckette
- Alexis Ralaivao
- George Rickey
- James Rosenquist
- Mark Ryden
- Jan-Ole Schiemann
- Joel Shapiro
- Bosco Sodi
- Dorothea Tanning
- Naama Tsabar
- Bernar Venet