“It challenges people’s internal landscapes,” said British artist Thomas J Price
- Thomas J Price is garnering attention for his latest art installation in New York City’s Times Square
- The 12-foot bronze statue of a young woman in everyday clothes stands with confidence, a nod to Michelangelo’s “David”
- The British artist said he wants to “bind intimate emotional states that allow for deeper reflection around the human condition and greater cultural diversity”
In New York City’s Times Square, a woman stands with ease and confidence amidst throngs of tourists. She just happens to be 12-feet tall.
The bronze statue, entitled “Grounded in the Stars,” is one of two art installations by British artist Thomas J Price, whose work is challenging people’s assumptions about identity and representation. Creating a moment for reflection in the frenetic, body-filled public space, the young woman — dressed in contemporary clothes, but posed like Michelangelo’s “David” — has caught the attention of the art world and passersby alike.
“The intention of my public works is to become part of the place they inhabit and its physical, material history, as well as the visitors that pass through and around the location, no matter how fleeting,” Price said in a statement posted on Times Square’s website. “Grounded in the Stars” will be on view until Tuesday, June 17, at the intersection of Broadway Avenue and 46th Street.
“Through scale, materiality, and posture, ‘Grounded in the Stars’ disrupts traditional ideas around what defines a triumphant figure,” reads the installation description, “and challenges who should be rendered immortal through monumentalization.”
Price’s other work, “Man Series,” involves stop-motion animation of the heads of sculpted male figures that appear on 95 screens in the square every night from 11:57 p.m. to midnight through the month of May. It’s the latest iteration of Times Square’s revered “Midnight Moment” program, which has featured artists such as Andy Warhol and Yoko Ono.
Price hopes both works — which contrast with the neighboring statues of playwright George M. Cohan and priest Francis P. Duffy, both white men — will inspire connection.
The artist said he wants to “bind intimate emotional states that allow for deeper reflection around the human condition and greater cultural diversity.”
“Grounded in the Stars” is a fictionalized person stemming from observations and open calls that have taken place from London to Los Angeles, according to the Times Square website. Price has used the same method to create the five bronze figures featured in his exhibition “Resilience of Scale” at Hauser & Wirth gallery in New York City, which runs until Saturday, June 14.
“If these fictional characters are from a gender or perceived race that you have decided should not be at this level,” Price told The Art Newspaper, “and suddenly you see them presented in their gloriousness, it challenges people’s internal landscapes.”