“Sunbather” rendering
Aug. 6, 2016 By Hannah Wulkan
The city has begun pouring the foundation for the controversial pink sculpture planned for the median at the intersection of Jackson Avenue and 43rd Avenue.
The 8 ½-foot-tall sculpture, called the Sunbather, is being built in Brooklyn, and will likely be fully installed within the next two months, according to a representative from Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer’s office. The Court Square blog was first to report that construction had begun.
The DCLA selected the sculpture through its ‘Percent for Art’ initiative, which requires one percent of the budget for City-funded construction projects be spent on artwork for City facilities.
The “Sunbather,” by artist Ohad Meromi, was approved at the Design Commission meeting last October, but that came after nearly a year of debate over its design and cost.
The sculpture sparked a heated discussion when it was first proposed to Community Board 2 at a land use committee meeting in November 2014.
The Community Board committee members said they felt caught off guard by the proposal and were upset that they did not have more input in the design.
The DCLA then declined to make the renderings of the design public, claiming that presenting them at the committee meeting was adequate.
At the request of committee, the DCLA presented the designs to the full Community Board at their meeting in December.
Many were upset with the $515,000 price tag attached to the project, while others were upset with the design itself, including the bright pink color and its large size.
Some in the community were also upset that the design chosen was by an artist from Brooklyn, rather than a local LIC artist.
Since the uproar over the sculpture, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer has passed legislation requiring the DCLA to provide advance notification on its website of projects it intends to work on, and to present the design at a public meeting in the community district where the project is to be installed.
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22 Comments
The FAKE MRLIC wrote the August 15, 2016 2:47 pm post. He thinks he is funny but he’s not.
Once again the post at August 14 at 5:40 pm is the JOKER that stole my MRLIC handle. I never agree with anyone, especially Ms. LIC when she says I should go back to therapy.
Frank, again I agree with you.
The “pink” is an insult to the Long Island City artistic community which was never offered a chance to compete. This is pure and simple nepotisme. Somebody had a friend who knew somebody who was a minion of another ignorant and they all got together to promote some bubblegum guy from Brooklyn. Let’s call back the graffiti artists from 5Pointz!!!!
Maybe everyone should start putting used bubblegum on the sculpture. It would be an improvement.
¿Cabrón, why would you treat your own cousin this way? Is this because I spilled BBQ sauce on your favorite bowling gloves at our last family reunion?
SenorLIC is the FAKE MRLIC JOKER posting again. He is exposed again. I hope he keeps the SenorMRLIC handle, but he probably won’t He also has the FAKE post on August 9, 2016, 12:31 pm
The MRLIC posting on August 9, 2016 3:42am is the JOKER who is using my handle. I am the REAL MRLIC!
Hello I am SeñorLIC, MRLIC’s Spanish-speaking cousin. I can tell you that The MRLIC posting on August 9, 2016 3:42am is the PENDEJO esta not real. Only the MRLIC posting on Aug 8 is the MRLIC auténtico.
The FAKE MRLIC I have to expose again with his August 8, 2016 3:17 pm post. He is just a JOKER who doesn’t get it. Get your own handle instead of hijacking mine. I will continue to expose every one I find.
I really wish they would have considered my proposal for the design of the sculpture:
http://www.scheib.net/play/europe/pics/027.jpg
That’s the spirit!!!
Half a million dollars for something we don’t WANT and don’t NEED? How could this happen? I can find a half dozen projects worth $500k that would greatly improve the life of our residents.
“I can’t change the fact that my paintings don’t sell. But the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture.”…Vincent van Gogh
Is it exactly what I would have put there? No. But, it’s eye catching, amusing, and far better than a traditional dead white guy statue.
There are plenty of other less expensive and more appealing options besides a “dead white guy statue.” Stop defending the indefensible, Mrs. Meromi. Tell your son to find another career that doesn’t involve ripping off U.S. taxpayers.
half a million dollars!
What a waste of taxpayer money and it’s ugly too.
You sound like the Nazis that called Picasso’s paintings “degenerate art”
Oh, please, stop with this BS that you’re somehow a fascist or philistine if you don’t agree that with an expensive pile of ugly sculpture funded by taxpayers through a secretive process. That’s just a cheap argument to hide your arrogance and elitism. 99% of the people against the sculpture love the neighborhood, support local artists and want to beautify our public spaces. We know when we are being bamboozled, so just shut the F up.
Slap in the face! Clearly nobody wanted this pink piece of gilded crap but they go ahead and throw our tax dollars out the window anyway.
“…Money can’t buy you class…Elegance is learned my friend…” Countess Luann