LONG ISLAND CITY — A massive sculpture of a reclining woman made from recycled materials — that was banished from the Brooklyn waterfront last year because it did not have state approval — will grace the Queens shoreline this spring.
Polish artist Pawel Althamer's "Queen Mother of Reality," a 50-foot long by 18-foot high sculpture made from steel and discarded scraps, will be on display at Socrates Sculpture Park this spring and summer, the park announced Monday.
The structure made its debut in Brooklyn last year during the visual-arts performance festival Performa 13, when it was erected on the Williamsburg waterfront in East River State Park.
But the state ordered its removal last November because it was erected without the state's approval, which runs that park. It was not immediately removed.
Althamer and a team of artists and community members will reassemble the sculpture next to the East River in Socrates Sculpture Park, where it will be on view from May 11 to August 4.
The piece, which depicts a reclining female figure, is named after Harlem activist Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely and is meant "to highlight New York City's too numerous displaced and homeless, one of Dr. Blakely's urgent causes," according to an announcement from Socrates.
The park will present a series of workshops and programs during its upcoming season centered around the sculpture, with a full calendar set to be announced this spring.
