Artist Shahzia Sikander will create major new work on the theme of justice for a multimedia exhibition, Havah… to breathe, air, life, in Madison Square Park, New York, and the nearby courthouse. The exhibition marks the first collaboration between the Conservancy and courthouse—both located in the Flatiron District of New York.
Opening this winter in the park and at the Courthouse of the Appellate Division, First Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, the exhibition features two new large-scale sculptures—one within the park that can be transformed with Snap AR technology and another on the Courthouse rooftop, visible from the street and the first female figure to adorn one of its ten plinths. A video animation by Sikander will be on view in the park, visually intertwining the distinct elements. The exhibition is a culmination of Sikander’s exploration of female representation in monuments and marks her first major, site-specific outdoor exhibition in sculptural form. Havah…to breathe, air, life is co-commissioned by Madison Square Park Conservancy and Public Art of the University of Houston System (Public Art UHS). The exhibition will be on view in New York from January 17 through June 4, 2023, before traveling to Houston.