A pair of bronze lions towering 5 feet tall may soon guard the entrance to the Battery Park City Library as sculptor Tom Otterness has agreed to craft the lions, after a local resident anonymously volunteered to cover the cost, according to an article today at DNAinfo.com by Julie Shapiro.
"We're all really excited," Otterness said, adding that "the idea is to do a variation on the New York Public Library lions, which are such a well-known emblem."
"Unlike Patience and Fortitude, the reclining marble lions in front of the midtown library, these lions would sit up on their haunches, Otterness said. One will be male and the other female, and they will be surrounded by a bunch of cubs just 6 inches tall. One will be munching on a little bronze book," the article said. It was illustrated with a sketch by the artist, shown at the right.
"Otterness sees the lions as a continuation of 'The Real World,' his 1992 installation of playful bronze figurines in Rockefeller Park a few blocks away. Many of those figures are shown carrying pennies, so Otterness plans to show one of the lion cubs with a bag of pennies as well," the article continued.
The lions would likely sit just north of the library's entrance on North End Avenue and could arrive as soon as the spring of 2012, Otterness said, the article said, adding that "the idea for the lions came from Tom Goodkind, a Battery Park City resident who first suggested the project as a joke several years ago. But other residents liked the idea and Goodkind began pursuing it seriously. He called Otterness, who was intrigued, but the project was on hold until recently because of a lack of funding. 'The kids are going to love it," Goodkind said. "It really enhances the neighborhood.'"
Otterness, a Kansas native who studied at the Art Students League in the 1970s, has created many popular and delirious public art installations in the city, including "Life Underground" at the 14th Street and Eighth Avenue subway station.
Community Board 1's Battery Park City Committee was scheduled to hear a presentation about the project at a meeting April 5, Mr. Goodkind said.
The Battery Park City Library opened one year ago this month and is celebrating its anniversary next week.
Mr. Otterness should join Red Grooms in the pantheon of great artists who love New York and whose works should fill up all the new grim and dirty bike lanes with their highly imaginative and joyous mayhem.
"We're all really excited," Otterness said, adding that "the idea is to do a variation on the New York Public Library lions, which are such a well-known emblem."
"Unlike Patience and Fortitude, the reclining marble lions in front of the midtown library, these lions would sit up on their haunches, Otterness said. One will be male and the other female, and they will be surrounded by a bunch of cubs just 6 inches tall. One will be munching on a little bronze book," the article said. It was illustrated with a sketch by the artist, shown at the right.
"Otterness sees the lions as a continuation of 'The Real World,' his 1992 installation of playful bronze figurines in Rockefeller Park a few blocks away. Many of those figures are shown carrying pennies, so Otterness plans to show one of the lion cubs with a bag of pennies as well," the article continued.
The lions would likely sit just north of the library's entrance on North End Avenue and could arrive as soon as the spring of 2012, Otterness said, the article said, adding that "the idea for the lions came from Tom Goodkind, a Battery Park City resident who first suggested the project as a joke several years ago. But other residents liked the idea and Goodkind began pursuing it seriously. He called Otterness, who was intrigued, but the project was on hold until recently because of a lack of funding. 'The kids are going to love it," Goodkind said. "It really enhances the neighborhood.'"
Otterness, a Kansas native who studied at the Art Students League in the 1970s, has created many popular and delirious public art installations in the city, including "Life Underground" at the 14th Street and Eighth Avenue subway station.
Community Board 1's Battery Park City Committee was scheduled to hear a presentation about the project at a meeting April 5, Mr. Goodkind said.
The Battery Park City Library opened one year ago this month and is celebrating its anniversary next week.
Mr. Otterness should join Red Grooms in the pantheon of great artists who love New York and whose works should fill up all the new grim and dirty bike lanes with their highly imaginative and joyous mayhem.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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