BE THEREMark di SuveroPresented by Madison Square Park June 4, 2004- March 1, 2005Mark di SuveroMadison Square Park Conservancy announces the exhibition of three monumental works by the internationally renowned sculptor Mark di Suvero. The artist has chosen for outdoor exhibition in the park three steel-beam sculptures never previously seen in New York, including two works never before exhibited: Aesope’s Fables (1990), Double Tetrahedron (2004) and Beyond (2004). A force in contemporary sculpture since the 1950s, Mark di Suvero is one of the most important American artists to have emerged from the Abstract Expressionist era. His sculpture has been exhibited in citywide exhibitions in Paris, Venice and Stuttgart among many other locations. The last major outdoor exhibition in New York City by di Suvero, organized by the Whitney Museum, was held in 1975. His work is in the collections of many prestigious museums, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Whitney Museum, the Menil Museum in Houston, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Walker Art Center, the Art Institute of Chicago and numerous others. The three sculptures in Madison Square Park demonstrate the expressive range of di Suvero’s epic steel-beam constructions, from the classically vertical Double Tetrahedron, to the tethered shapes in conversation of Aesope’s Fables, to the organic form gathering from the earth in Beyond. Aesope’s Fables, 1990, constructed of steel, 11’ 5.25” (h) x 32’ 4.5” x 13’ 7.5” Park Location: south end Double Tetrahedron, 2004, constructed of steel, 36’ 8” (h) x 8’ 10.5” x 8’10.5 Park Location: northern fountain Beyond, 2004, constructed of steel, 24'(h) x 21' 6" x 20' 6" Park Location: northeast side of the oval lawn Madison Square Park Conservancy Trustee Danny Meyer, a catalyst in creating Mad Square Art, said, “Mark di Suvero’s epic sculpture represents another step forward in the renaissance of Madison Square Park. That a world-class artist like di Suvero would exhibit in our park is testimony to the strides we have made and to the quality of art, music and other programs we can expect from the Madison Square Park Conservancy in the years to come.” “Madison Square Park offers an ideal background for outdoor art in Manhattan,” said Madison Square Park Conservancy President Deborah Landau. “For the last four years, our green gallery has housed innovative, high-spirited and challenging works by young artists. The three monumental di Suvero sculptures raise our outdoor museum to a new tier with an exhibit of the work of a great artist in his prime.” Madison Square Park is the permanent home to many great works of art, including the Admiral Farragut Monument,” said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “Thanks to the successful partnership between Parks & Recreation and the Madison Square Park Conservancy, world-class art exhibitions like Mark di Suvero’s are possible and will continue to attract visitors to this historic park.” Parks & Recreation's temporary public art program has consistently fostered the creation and installation of temporary public art in parks throughout the five boroughs and has supported projects ranging from international exhibitions in flagship parks to local, community works in neighborhood parks and traffic islands. Mark di Suvero Mark di Suvero’s signature steel beam constructions suggest strength, beauty and form on a monumental scale. Visitors to Madison Square Park will walk through, under and around the pieces, allowing active participation in the dynamics of the sculptures. His sculptures combine the natural environment with the industrial, and draw on his own experience of places and objects. In this way, like the sculptor himself, the sculptures are multicultural, combining East with West, old world with new. Mark di Suvero was born in Shanghai, China, before moving to San Francisco at the outbreak of World War II. In 1957, already a sculptor in welded metal, di Suvero moved to New York where he joined the 10th Street Cooperative and began creating what he called “cubist, open spatial sculptures.” Pinned under an elevator shaft and left partially paralyzed in 1960, he did not allow this to diminish his creativity. Mark Di Suvero continued making sculpture with the same energy seen in his work today. Indeed, at the age of 70, he shows no signs of slowing down, and his newest work reflects his continuing zest for life. He has studios in New York, California, and France. Mark di Suvero and his art have a long and intimate relationship with New York City. Working with friends and other artists, he helped found the Park Place Gallery, one of the first SoHo galleries. In 1986, di Suvero founded Socrates Sculpture Park on the East River in Long Island City, Queens, for artists to install outdoor work. He maintains a nearby studio developed from abandoned riverfront warehouses. Mark di Suvero’s Athena Foundation, founded in 1977, gives grants to young artists. Important di Suvero exhibitions include a 1975 retrospective at The Whitney Museum; numerous shows at the Storm King Art Center, New York; the 1995 Venice Biennale, where seven large sculptures were installed along the canals; and a 1997 city-wide exhibition in Paris, including four sculptures in the Esplanade des Invalides. More recent exhibitions include the John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco; Laumeier Sculpture Park, St Louis; Paula Cooper Gallery, New York; and Akira Ikeda Gallery, Berlin.
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