Rob Pruitt: The Andy Monument (Public Art Fund)
Date:
Wednesday, March 30 to Sunday, May 13, 2012
Start Time:
7:00 PM
Location:
17th Street and Broadway
Description:
Rob Pruitt’s larger-than-life sculpture of famed pop artist Andy Warhol is the first public art installation to grace the Union Square district’s new pedestrian plazas at 17th Street & Broadway.
Inspired by Warhol's art and life, Pruitt created The Andy Monument as a tribute to the late artist. It stands on the street corner, as Warhol did when he signed and gave away copies of Interview magazine just a few steps away from the entrance to where one of the Pop Art pioneer's legendary Factory spaces once stood. The figure is based on a combination of digital scanning of a live model and hand sculpting, its surface finished in chrome, mounted on a concrete pedestal. It depicts Warhol as a ghostly, silver presence: a potent cultural force as both artist and self-created myth.
As Rob Pruitt observes, "Like so many other artists and performers and people who don't fit in because they're gay or otherwise different, Andy moved here to become who he was, to fulfill his dreams and make it big. He still represents that courage and that possibility. That's why I came to New York, and that's what my Andy Monument is about."
“The Andy Monument” is on view until May 13th, 2012.
