New Statue of Woman in Times Square Designed to ‘Disrupt Traditional Ideas’
In New York City’s Times Square, a 12-foot-tall statue of a slightly overweight African-American woman with braids is being featured from late April to mid-June. The statue is intended to aesthetically contrast with two statues of important figures from American history in the same vicinity: Father Francis Duffy, a World War I military chaplain, and playwright George M. Cohan, who both happen to be caucasian.
The statue is a part of the series “Grounded in the Stars,” created by sculptor Thomas J. Price, whose “multidisciplinary practice confronts preconceived notions of identity and representation.” The statue is “young woman” who is said to be a combination of “images, observations, and open calls [of models] spanning between Los Angeles and London” who shares the same qualities of these models.
Times Square’s website describes the concept of the sculpture, comparing it to Michelangelo’s statue David, though it is meant to disrupt traditional ideas concerning triumphant figures:
“A fictionalized character constructed from images, observations, and open calls spanning between Los Angeles and London, the young woman depicted in Grounded in the Stars carries familiar qualities, from her stance and countenance to her everyday clothing,” the description states. “In her depiction, one recognizes a shared humanity, yet the contrapposto pose of her body and the ease of her stance is a subtle nod to Michelangelo’s David. Through scale, materiality, and posture, Grounded in the Stars disrupts traditional ideas around what defines a triumphant figure and challenges who should be rendered immortal through monumentalization.”
Price’s website states further describes the appearance of the statue as a “young Black woman wearing a plain T-shirt and braids that fall into a neat bob around her face, standing in the slightest contrapposto, with both hands on the back of her hips.”
The statue is located on in Duffy Square on Broadway and 46th Street facing 47th Street.
Through having one of his pieces in Times Square, Price hopes to unite “people from all walks of life, individual stories, and experiences intersecting on a global platform.”
“The intention of my public works is to become part of the place they inhabit and its physical, material history, as well as the visitors that pass through and around the location, no matter how fleeting,” Price said in a press release for his statue. “I hope Grounded in the Stars and Man Series will instigate meaningful connections and bind intimate emotional states that allow for deeper reflection around the human condition and greater cultural diversity.”
