Australian sculptor, Todd Stuart has won glowing praise from one of New York’s most prominent property developers for his first U.S public sculpture installation.
Lloyd Goldman is the founder of BLDG Management, with substantial involvement in New York commercial real estate. His name is famously linked to his interests in the World Trade Centre in 2001 and the Sears Tower in Chicago. BLDG Management last year built the company’s first residential tower, the 43-story Summit project at 222 East 44th Street in Manhattan.
Speaking at the unveiling of Stuart’s Summit of Manhattan sculpture recently, Goldman praised the work that now sits outside the lobby of the new tower. Summit of Manhattan is fabricated in high-grade mirror-finished stainless steel. The seven metre long by 3.7metre tall work is Stuart’s break-through into the United States. It offers multiple fields for interpretation, among them a reconstitution of the enigmatic symbol of infinity.
Goldman said he always knew the development was going to be a public art space, with a grand entrance. They searched the world, the Internet, and New York but kept coming back to Stuart’s work in his Infinity series.
Coming home
‘It’s really important for us to have this great public art at the front entrance of the building. And right from walking in the front door, people should feel they’re coming home and it’s warm and inviting and uplifting,’ Goldman said.
Once BLDG came up with the name for the building and started framing some of the story around it, Stuart became an integral part of the project. His work, Goldman said was representative or what someone should think about when they approached the building.
‘Todd Stuart, the artist behind the work — [it] was a wonderful experience dealing with him. He performed incredibly. Every time we had a request he came back the next day even though sometimes we couldn’t respond back for a day or two because of the time difference.
‘It was a wonderful experience and all the anxieties about dealing with someone completely on the opposite side of the world were relieved,’ he said.
Journey and legacy
Interviewed with Goldman, Stuart said: ‘As a project manager for large scale public sculpture my top goals are to provide absolutely integrity to my clients; to provide a journey which is a soulful pilgrimage where’s there’s no hidden surprises, only excitement and anticipation for what’s to come; and a connected piece which will actually provide a connection with the soul for the people, the place, and the community where they can own the piece and it can live on as a legacy.’
In the same interview, Goldman told Stuart: ‘You were helpful through the whole process, including the lighting, the angles, everything that needs to be put into properly displayed public art in something as great as this.
‘It’s really well done. It fits the space as we imagined. You performed wonderfully, on time, as expected. It’s really been a pleasure to do this.’
Reflecting on the project, Stuart said the work’s reflection on the idea and the symbol of infinity connected intrinsically with the notion of the summit. Whether resident or passer-by, Summit continued to pose the concept that something always remained to strive for.
For further enquiries about commissioning large-scale public or private sculpture, call Todd Stuart on +61 4 5151 8865, or visit mainartery.art. You might also like to visit his blog on How to avoid plop and plonk sculpture: the value of strong diagnostics.
