Though snow is still falling, spring is technically just about a month away, and with milder weather comes public art. Last night,the Parks Department announced that a six-foot-long sculpture, local artist Nicolas Holiber‘s Head of Goliath, will be installed at Tribeca Park from May through July.
A reference to the biblical tale of David and Goliath, in which the giant is defeated by Israel’s future king when he’s still just a boy, Head of Goliath is the picture of that stunning defeat, the oversized head lying on the ground, with his tongue lolling out. Created from wood, fiberglass, and found and recycled materials, the colorful piece offers a contemporary take on an age-old story that has inspired countless artworks.
Jennifer Lantzas, the public art coordinator for the Parks Department praised the piece in a statement as offering “an eye-catching display of color, texture and dimension.” Holiber will participate in a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council arts residency next March.
Paula Hayes Gazing Globes (2015), at Madison Square Park, rendering.
Photo: Madison Square Park Conservancy.
Can’t wait until May? Madison Square Park is getting a jump on the spring public art season with Brooklyn-based artist and landscape designer Paula Hayes‘s Gazing Globes, an installation of 18 illuminated glass orbs filled with artfully arranged rubbish you might find in your junk drawer. Organized by the Madison Square Park Conservancy, the sculptures, displayed on fiberglass pedestals, will be on view February 19–April 19.
“Industrial materials are extremely durable to the point that the earth can’t digest them. I wanted to transform them into something that compels us to look at them—that makes us want to look at them, she told DNA Info of the crystal balls, which she has filled with dead batteries and broken computer parts and coated in shimmering dust made from old CDs.