ART GOES PUBLIC IN THE BRONX
Monica Banks, Louisa and Rusty, 2002, steel, Hunts Point Recreation Center, 765 Manida Street, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation Percent for Art Program, Lehman College Art Gallery www.lehman.edu/publicart
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ublic Art in the Bronx, a Web site project of Lehman College Art Gallery / City University of New York, examines the rich collection of public art found in our borough. This site provides an overview of works in public places from the earliest created in the 19th century, those produced under the WPA, as well as the more recent projects being produced under such agencies as Percent for Art, Arts for Transit, the Health and Hospital Corporation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York State Dormitory Authority, and the Public Art Fund. This collection includes work by major artists, among them are Vito Acconci, Alice Adams, John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres, Charles Alston, Romare Bearden, Jackie Ferrara, Rafael Ferrer, Walton Ford, Helen Frankenthaler, Daniel Chester French, Malvina Hoffman, Komar and Melamid, Paul Manship, Dennis Oppenheim, Tom Otterness, Howardena Pindell, Ben Shahn and Bernarda Bryson Shahn, Faith Ringgold, Tim Rollins + KOS, Carrie Mae Weems, and many others. Distributed throughout the Bronx, these projects exist in virtually every neighborhood in the public schools, fire stations, libraries, government buildings, subway stations and parks. Public Art in the continued on page 45
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onica Banks created two large steel sculptures for the Hunts Point Recreation Center: Louisa, a horse located outside the basketball court, and Rusty, a dog located in the lobby near the front desk. Both sculptures were forged from continuous steel rods and each resembles a three-dimensional line drawing. The artist explained that by installing these “functionless” sculptures at a recreation center, she hoped to inspire children’s interest in creating and admiring works of art. Banks currently lives and works in East Hampton, NY. After graduating from Vassar with a degree in Philosophy, she went on to study design at Domus Academy in Milan, and metalworking at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Banks creates sculptural projects using beads, reconfigured jewelry, and constructions with bits of detritus gleaned from daily life, all joined together by pieces of twisted wire. She also uses photography to document the experience of her work, making the pictures the art. Banks sees this as a new way to relate to her interest in installation pieces and their temporality. Her public works include, in addition to the Hunts Point sculptures, Faces: Times Square, permanent 166 foot sculptural fence on traffic median between Seventh Ave. and Broadway, New York NY, 1996; and Sketches, permanent installation, Levine Children’s Hospital, Charlotte NC, 2007. Fine Art Magazine • Spring 2009 • 43