Nicole Eisenman is undoubtedly one of the most respected American singers today. With his ever-evolving practice, he has been able to subvert and create his own style, opening his process to its infinite potential beyond any market recognition rule and trends. Eisenman is known for being absurd, mysterious, critical, sometimes inappropriate and profoundly insightful, depending on how he wants to make sense of his practice within the canon of art history—or simply in the ever-changing social landscape that is equally fraught with paradoxes.
His recently launched installation Fixed Cranecommissioned by the Madison Square Park Conservancy, it is the latest important statement of his irreverence when it comes to dealing with traditional songs and genre and desecration, in this case, the sacred idea of celebrating sculptures in public spaces like monuments. What the artist brought to Madison Square Park is, in fact, an abandoned Link-Belt industrial crane from 1969, simply decorated with handmade sculptures. If a monument, this installation refers to human development and the desire to dominate this planet through the continuous accumulation of new constructions and can be seen as an important factor in confronting the inherent hubris and the consequences of this in the world. As already explored in some of his previous monumental portraits, the artist conceived this public commission in a collaborative context; people can walk around its 90-foot length or sit on a counterweight, which Eisenman turned into a bench. The interactive aspect challenges the traditional view of the monument, making public sculptures closer to the ordinary life of those who will encounter them in public spaces.
Although Eisenman was primarily recognized for his paintings for many years, it has now been nearly a decade since he began working as a sculptor, and his three-dimensional works and installations have since become some of the most talked about art in the world. His practice first developed into tridimensionality during a 2012 residency at Studio Voltaire in London, resulting in man-made plasterwork that became the undisputed stars of the 2013 Carnegie International in Pittsburgh before evolving into A processionon stage at the 2019 Whitney Biennial. In recent years, Eisenman has worked on several public installations, such as his bronze baths, Sketch for Fountain, which found a home in Boston's 401 Park area of Fenway after being presented at Skulptur Projekte Münster. The Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas received another version of the sculptural ensemble.
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This is also not the first time Eisenman has collaborated with industrial cranes: the yellow, gigantic one was part of his latest study at the MCA in Chicago, where his idea for a “sculpture” was a crane with a bronze cat's head instead. wrecking ball. Significantly, these works represent another expansion and personal revision of his exploration of the concept of Readymades, which is reflected in the continuous process of appropriating styles, themes and images that motivate his practice as he begins freely throughout the history of art.
In New York, Eisenman added a series of sculptures to the crane, including a flag-waving figure on top of the crane's overturned cab, a bronze Birkenstock foot held under the steps and crane bandages attached to the crane—all elements. that underscores how obsolete the machinery has become and how degraded the symbol of modern civilization has become now that the consequences of the uncontrolled urban development it allows have been revealed. At the same time, it seems to suggest the desire to preserve this instrument as a relic, or a cultural memory, which is still attached to it.
“Our public art commissions often inspire new and sometimes provocative ideas in the world around us,” Madison Square Park Conservancy executive director Holly Leicht said in a statement. in the park. It's a fitting end to our multi-year anniversary season for the arts program, setting the tone for ambitious commissions in the coming years.”
Fixed Crane (which was made possible with the support of the VIA Art Fund, as noted in a recent Observer interview with art consultant Molly Epstein) marks the fourth and final artist commission in the twentieth year of the Conservancy's art program, following Ana's powerful tulle-based installation. María Hernando opened in the park in January, high-rise sculptures crossing two New York City parks by Rose B. Simpson unveiled in April and a two-part procession performance by María Magdalena Campos-Pons held last month.
Nicole Eisenman Fixed Crane will be seen in Madison Square Park Oval Lawn until March 9.
