Past Exhibition

Arlene Shechet: Full Steam Ahead

September 25, 2018 – April 28, 2019

Past Exhibition

Arlene Shechet: Full Steam Ahead

September 25, 2018 – April 28, 2019

Arlene Shechet’s first major public art project, Full Steam Ahead, features a series of new sculptures in porcelain, wood, steel, and cast iron installed in and around the park’s emptied circular reflecting pool. Her work straddles function and art by including seating for conversation, inspired by memories of the sunken living room in her grandparents’ New York City apartment.

Along the pathways and perimeter of the reflecting pool, human-scale sculpture interacts with traversing visitors and reflects the artist’s interest in flora and fauna: outsized remnants of a lion’s head and paw, remains of a bird’s colossal feather displayed high on a pedestal as an ominous trophy, and tree-like sculptures and branches in cast iron. Shechet has described the project as “a manufactured version of nature.”

Shechet is best known for her work in ceramic and porcelain, materials considered fragile and precious. In Full Steam Ahead, she brings the material to a new level of scale and form, confirming her role as a risk taker who advances sculpture to the edge and into humor. The project’s title takes inspiration from the 1881 monument to Admiral David Glasgow Farragut who mythically commanded: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” during the Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay.

About the artist

Arlene Shechet (American, b. 1951) was born in New York and works in the Hudson Valley. She received a BA from New York University (1970), and an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design (1978).

Shechet has received numerous prizes including John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2004), Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant (2010), and CAA Artist Award for Distinguished Body of Work (2016). The artist’s works are included in the collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Read more about the artist
About the artist

Arlene Shechet (American, b. 1951) was born in New York and works in the Hudson Valley. She received a BA from New York University (1970), and an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design (1978).

Shechet has received numerous prizes including John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2004), Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant (2010), and CAA Artist Award for Distinguished Body of Work (2016). The artist’s works are included in the collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Read more about the artist

About the artist

Arlene Shechet (American, b. 1951) was born in New York and works in the Hudson Valley. She received a BA from New York University (1970), and an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design (1978).

Shechet has received numerous prizes including John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2004), Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant (2010), and CAA Artist Award for Distinguished Body of Work (2016). The artist’s works are included in the collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Read more about the artist
Exhibition Catalogue

Arlene Shechet: Full Steam Ahead

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Download PDF
Press Release

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Download PDF
About the artist

Arlene Shechet (American, b. 1951) was born in New York and works in the Hudson Valley. She received a BA from New York University (1970), and an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design (1978).

Shechet has received numerous prizes including John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2004), Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant (2010), and CAA Artist Award for Distinguished Body of Work (2016). The artist’s works are included in the collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Read more about the artist

Image gallery

Photo: Rashmi Gill
Photo: Rashmi Gill
Photo: Rashmi Gill
Photo: Rashmi Gill
Photo: Rashmi Gill
Photo: Rashmi Gill
Photo: Rashmi Gill
Photo: Guy Ben-Ari
Photo: Rashmi Gill
Photo: Guy Ben-Ari
Photo: Guy Ben-Ari
Photo: Guy Ben-Ari
Photo: Guy Ben-Ari

Exhibition Support

Major support is provided by Eleven Madison Park, Kohler Co., Pentagram Design, Ronald A. Pizzuti, Porcelanosa, Thornton Tomasetti, Tiffany & Co., Tillett Lighting Design Associates, Inc., Toby Devan Lewis, Pace Gallery, and Anonymous.

Substantial support is provided by George W. Ahl III, Charina Endowment Fund, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, The New York EDITION, Madison Square Park Art Council, Danny and Audrey Meyer, The Rudin Family, The Sol LeWitt Fund for Artist Work, Sorgente Group of America, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

Additional support is provided by 400 Park Ave South, Ace Hotel New York, Irving Harris Foundation, Lenore G. Tawney Foundation, Fern and Lenard Tessler, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Madison Square Park Conservancy is a public/private partnership with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

Arlene Shechet: Full Steam Ahead

Arlene Shechet: Full Steam Ahead

Arlene Shechet: Full Steam Ahead

Exhibition Support

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