November 2011
IN INSTALLMENTS: With a backlog of writing and ideas, the following will be coming in the weeks ahead
NEW SCULPTURES by StudioEIS at THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY being unveiled on November 9 – Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass
ON MEMORIALS AND THE FORGOTTEN, a reflection on Elizabeth Giddens NY Times piece and my letter to her. – November 15
CONVERSATE / coming / November 15
DAD / HEALTH CARE / November 15
THOMAS JEFFERSON IN RICHMOND / December 10
HARD TIMES / December 10
POLITICS / December 10
A HURRICANE IN NEW YORK / December 10
KENNEWICK MAN / January 1, 2012
THOMAS JEFFERSON: Jefferson and Slavery at Monticello: January 1, 2012, “Paradox of Liberty.” A new exhibition is being jointly organized by the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and will appear in the NMAAHC gallery at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. StudioEIS’ bronze Jefferson has been reproduced for this exhibition digitally and I will talk about process and image development. This exhibition will open at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in February of 2012.
The New -York Historical Society Reopens Officially on November 11, 2011
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/no-debate-its-lincoln-and-douglass/
NEW-YORK
HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
Museum&Library
The New-York Historical Society will officially reopen to the public on November 11, 2011 after an extensive renovation. At the heart of this renovation is a tremendously reinvigorated institution under the direction of Dr. Louise Mirrer, with whom we have had the pleasure of working on the development of two new sculptures, along with curators Margi Hofer (Decorative Arts) and Stephen Edidin (Chief Curator).
The sleepy old Historical Society is well and truly gone. Today’s version is charged with energy, great public programming, new exhibitions and a new facility in which to view its exhibition programs. History, it would seem, has had a significant facelift at NYHS.
On the ninth of November at 5:30 p.m., NYHS will unveil StudioEIS’ two new bronze sculptures of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass at its gala reopening party.
Lincoln will be situated on Central Park West in front of the entrance to the building, and Douglass will be on the West 77th Street entrance landing.
The third in a series of Lincoln sculptures, Lincoln is poised, always somber but very approachable – one feels the weight of the world then, as it is now, on his shoulders. Frederick Douglass, imposing and powerful remains the image of conscience in America, as the issue of race has been left on every American President’s desk since George Washington.
The two together empower each other derived in part from their real world association. They derive new meaning as they’ve now found a permanent home together in NYC in this setting and they remind us that our ideals, aspirations and struggles continue. It’s exciting for me, and a little bit ironic that after all these years of designing and producing, we finally have some work in NYC.
StudioEIS has produced about one hundred life sized and over life sized bronze sculptures throughout the United States – which, given the caliber of the institutions we work with, is a considerable feat in itself. The largest project of its type in American history was completed for the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
Please visit us online and see more images of Lincoln and Douglass at: www.studioeis.com.
The following are a series of images from the Lincoln /Douglass development process.
Frederick Douglass in Clay and Bronze
Frederick Douglass two views in clay shot at StudioEIS
Frederick Douglass being installed on West 77th Street at the New York Historical Society on Oct. 25
Final installation pictures at The New-York Historical Society
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Lincoln in clay at StudioEIS prior to casting in bronze
Lincoln just after being installed on Central Park West
Finally, much more coming in the weeks ahead, but for now a little geographic context. an amazing image of Washington Street, which is where all of this sculpture has been produced for the past 25 years. We moved the studio here from West 12th Street in the West Village, in those days still a bit dodgy. This image was made in 1908 prior to the completion of the Manhattan Bridge.
Photograph by Eugene de Salignac shot on June 5, 1908 and Washington street today. Dumbo, once a forgotten end of the world neighborhood is now home to “Digital New York, as well as about 5,000 people who come to work in the former factories and production shops of the late 19th and early 20th century. The transformation has been amazing!
Today, thousands of people come to photograph this view. Lots of foreign tourists with guide books in hand exiting the foot path of the Brooklyn Bridge play dodgem-cars as they grab a picture to take home. At the end of Washington Street, the East River Tidal Estuary is the base camp for a mile long park project that has begun to transform NY’s once forlorn waterfront.
