The Public Art Fund will present Iran do Espírito Santo's first public work in the United States this fall. Opening on September 10 and on view through February 16, 2014, the work, entitled
Playground, explores the tactile attributes of the artist's chosen materials through the contours of a deceptively simple form. The 13-foot square, cast concrete work will occupy the center of Doris C. Freedman Plaza at the entrance to Central Park, echoing the facades of nearby buildings.
From a distance,
Playground appears to be an architecturally-scaled cube constructed with large gray blocks, some of which are missing at the corners. Upon closer inspection, what at first glance appeared to be individual bricks and mortar come in to focus as what they are: a single, large-scale concrete block with fragmented openings that are not “missing” bricks but hollow spaces carefully designed into the cube itself.
Playground is a large-scale elaboration of an ongoing series by the artist entitled
Destroços (“remains”), in which architectural fragments are rendered as discreet sculptures. The largest work from this series to date,
Playground undertakes a subtle subversion of Minimalism through the abstraction of a familiar form.
For more information on the
Playground, please visit
the Public Art Fund's website.
In conjunction with the opening of the exhibition, Iran do Espírito Santo will be giving a public talk at The New School on September 11 at 6:30pm; for more information and to purchase tickets, please visit
the Public Art Fund's website.
IMAGE: Iran do Espírito Santo, Playground, 2013. Rendering. Courtesy of Aleks Braz, the Artist, Fortes Vilaça, São Paulo and Sean Kelly, New York.
