Earlier this month Landsberg erected a 25-foot-long Statue of Liberty in Morningside Park that lays on her side directly on the grass—her hand supports her crowned head with a peaceful facial expression.
We are all exhausted and Lady Liberty’s pose is one many of us might identify with today. According to Landsberg, the sculpture, takes the pose of the giant reclining Buddha statues of Asia. By merging the two symbols together, the viewer is meant to reconsider what the Statue of Liberty actually is meant to represent.
The work is coated in plaster resin, and sturdy enough to allow viewers to touch, sit atop, lean up against the figure and interact with this monument on a human level. Finished with copper paint and an oxidizing acid the sculpture mimics the real Statue of Liberty.
This installation, titled Reclining Liberty, went up earlier this month with the help of Friends of Morningside Park, Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, LMCC (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council), New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, and Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation (UMEZ).
Reclining Liberty will be sitting on a sloping hill near 120th Street and Morningside Avenue through April 2022.
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