Art

For nearly two years, a statue of a young girl has been engaged in a staring contest with Wall Street’s iconic outdoor sculpture, Charging Bull—but no longer. Tuesday night, under cover of darkness, Fearless Girl, as it’s called, was removed by State Street Global Advisors, the Boston-based financial services outfit that had installed the work in March 2017 as a way of promoting the inclusion of more women officers on corporate boards. According to the firm, the sculpture, by artist Kristen Visbal, is being transferred to a spot in front of the New York Stock Exchange by the end of the year. With her uplifted chin, and hands-on-hips posture, Fearless Girl delivered a defiant feminist message, though some people called it a self-serving stunt by an investment company looking to burnish its progressive bonafides. The statue also attracted the ire of Charging Bull artist Arturo Di Modica, who, feeling it detracted from his work, demanded its removal. As if that wasn’t controversy enough, a couple months after Fearless Girl appeared, another artist, Alex Gardega, decided to offer his opinion by installing his sculpture of a urinating dog next to her leg. Nonetheless, Fearless Girl became a hit with tourists and Instagrammers alike. City Hall gave its blessing to the project, extending its stay though in April of this year, announcing that both sculptures would be moved to the Stock Exchange because their location at the northern tip of Bowling Green was creating traffic problem

Over the past four years, the Flatiron Partnership has held a annual competition for a outdoor art commission to take up the plaza in front of the famed Flatiron building during the holidays. For its fifth year, the Flatiron Public Plaza Holiday Design Competition, as it's called, has selected an installation titled Happy designed by Studio Cadena. The installation comprises a space enclosed by 24 transparent yellow vinyl panels hung like curtains around a metal, open-frame structure whose shape echoes the triangular footprint of the Flatiron Building. According to the organizers of the competition, which also includes the Van Alen Institute, Happy will spread holiday cheer by "gently swaying in the breeze…while it casts long colored shadows in the low light of late fall and early winter…a simple device to make you stop, wonder, and most importantly, smile." In other words, Happy is supposed to make you, well, happy, as opposed to feeling suicidal as many New Yorkers are wont to do this time of year. You can experience the joy through January 1.

Fans of Frida Kahlo get ready! The famed Mexican artist, Madonna fave and culinary inspiration will be the subject of a major new show opening at the Brooklyn Museum on February 8. “Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving,” takes a deep dive into both Kahlo the painter and Kahlo the legend with a exhibition that includes not only her important canvases and other works of art, but also a collection of her clothing and personal possessions that had been kept out of sight for 50 years. Locked away after her death in 1954, the items were re-discovered in 2004 and comprise traditional Tehuana dresses that Kahlo favored, as well as pre-Colonial jewelry she owned. Also included are the hand-painted corsets that Kahlo wore to support her back, which had been crushed by a collision between a trolley and a bus the 18-year old Frida was riding. Photographs, films and ephemera related to Kahlo’s life round out the selection, along with examples of Mesoamerican art (an interest of both Kahlo and her husband, the muralist Diego Rivera) drawn from the museum’s holdings. The show is up until May 12, with tickets going on sale December 3.

Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Kobain and Amy Winehouse spent their careers burning the candle at both ends until there wasn't any wax left. Now, these tragic pop icons are the subjects of a brand-new mural on the Lower East Side by in-demand street artist Kobra. Situated on the corner of Rivington and Forsyth Streets, the work memorializes their membership in the so-called 27 Club: The musicians and artists who died at 27.     Photograph: Ben Lau @just_a_spectator They're painted in Kobra's signature blend of grisaille portraits and color-saturated, kaleidoscopic backgrounds. Using a split-face style similar to one he employed for an East Village mural of Michael Jackson, Kobra joins Joplin with Kobain and Morrison with Hendrix, while Winehouse is seen on her own in profile. Kobra has had a very busy summer and fall. His 27 Club tribute is the latest of several murals celebrating important figures that include Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi and a 9/11 firefighter.

Ever wondered what's the story behind NYC's ubiquitous outdoor monuments