A massive bronze sculpture by Thomas J Price will soon stand tall in New York’s Times Square, accompanied at night by his stop-motion animations on the plaza’s famed billboards, in conjunction with his first major solo show at Hauser and Wirth in New York.
The sculptural work, (2023), depicts a Black woman wearing everyday clothing and standing 12 feet above the ground, in a slightly contrapposto pose with both hands on her hips. The work emerges from Price’s ongoing deconstruction of preconceived notions about identity, demonstrating how Black individuals can claim space on their own terms.
Thomas J Price’s Grounded in the Stars (2023) is seen with a person for scale. Photo courtesy of Kunstgiesserei St.Gallen
The sculpture, Price told me over email, was designed to integrate into such a setting as Times Square, which brings together various histories and cultures. It aims to represent the diversity of visitors at the Crossroads of the World and address the traditional representation of marginalized communities in public spaces.
“I hope will instigate meaningful connections and bind intimate emotional states that allow for deeper reflection around the human condition and greater cultural diversity,” he said.
The figure in the sculpture isn’t based on a real person—rather it is a composite of images and observations referred to by the artist in sculpting the work. Price said its identity is intentionally open-ended so people can see it without assumptions or stereotypes.
Thomas J Price. Grounded in the Stars. (2023). Photo courtesy of Kunstgiesserei St.Gallen
“The work is a composite fictional character, unfixed and boundless, allowing us to imagine what it would be like to inhabit space neutrally without preconceived ideas and misrepresentation,” he said.
And in a world full of shallow communication, soundbites, and mixed messages, this sculpture is meant to bring back a sense of human connection, he said. It explores the gap between what people see in the world around them and what they feel inside.
As for the animations, they will run on more than 90 billboards throughout the famed area from 11:57 p.m. to midnight nightly. They come from his ongoing “Man Series” of “plasticine heads” presented against stark black backgrounds. The heads come to life with subtle facial movements.
Portrait of Thomas J Price. Photo by Ollie Adegboye
“I was drawn to Thomas J Price’s work for Times Square because of the novel ways in which he imparts a sense of reverence for people’s everyday humanity,” Jean Cooney, the director of Times Square Arts, said in an email, adding that the works “summon power.”
At Hauser and Wirth, Price’s show, “Resilience of Scale,” will present five such towering figures with a large-scale photographic work comprising 18 separate framed images. As in Times Square, the exhibition invites viewers to navigate the space and make circuits around the works—”positioning themselves within the artist’s narrative,” reads the press announcement, “rather than merely observing from a distance.”
Grounded in the Stars
Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com
