Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Giant Building Sculptures Go on Display in Flatiron and Union Square

By Claire Oliver | June 26, 2013 8:35am

FLATIRON — Three sculptures showing iconic New York buildings twisted into whimsical shapes just went on display in Flatiron and Union Square.

The large-scale metal artworks, by Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea, were among the 10 pieces that dotted Park Avenue on the Upper East Side earlier this year as part of the city's "No Limits" installation. That exhibit ended June 9, but three standout pieces moved south to continue their run.

One sculpture, on 23rd Street next to the Flatiron Building, shows the MetLife Tower coiled into a spiral.

In Union Square, at Broadway and 18th Street, a version of The Sherry-Netherland hotel loops into a circle, while on the plaza outside Baruch College, on 25th Street between Third and Lexington avenues, a sculpture of the Flatiron Building hangs from a flagpole.

Arrechea's sculptures, which reach up to 20 feet tall, "[play] on the idea of elastic architecture as a metaphor for the challenges and opportunities of shifting conditions and new realities,” according to release by the Magnan Metz Gallery, one of the show’s producers.

The new "No Limits" run was coordinated through a partnership between the gallery, the Department of Transportation’s Urban Arts Program and local plaza partners.