LOWER MANHATTAN — A barrel-bellied man sporting clown makeup, a totem pole of painterly blobs and a refashioned John Deere tractor have all found a home in City Hall Park.
The quirky, irreverent pieces are part of the Public Art Fund’s latest exhibition in the park, called “Lightness of Being,” which is now on view.
The exhibit features works by 11 artists, including Australia’s James Angus, British sculptor Gary Webb and Alicja Kwande from Poland, known for twisting bicycles and other objects into simpler, elegant forms, like circles.
Artist Ugo Rondinone's "sculpture" is a performance piece — a man dressed as a clown who will sit in various parts of the park from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, weather permitting. The clown is a "stand-in for a modern-day shaman," according to the artist's statement.
All the large-scale pieces are “at once light hearted and enigmatic, incorporating a sense of play and wry humor,” according to a statement by the art fund.
The exhibition, funded by a grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, will be on display through Dec. 13.
