Gov Island’s newest inhabitant looms large

BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER | David R. Collens, director and curator of the Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, N.Y., says sculptor Mark di Suvero is not a tall man. And he isn’t a young man. However, at 78, he is still making mammoth sculptures — some 60 feet to 100 feet high — mostly without assistants. His material is steel, welded, riveted, bolted, and sometimes polished or painted. The sculptures tower over their surroundings, demanding space and long vistas, both of which they have on Governors Island where 11 of di Suvero’s works have been installed.

The exhibit is being presented by Storm King to mark its 50th anniversary as one of the world’s leading sculpture parks and is its first exhibit off site. It is the largest outdoor presentation of di Suvero’s sculpture to be shown in New York City since the 1970’s. Leslie Koch, president of the Trust for Governors Island, is thrilled.

“We’ve never before had anything of the magnitude and importance of Mark’s work,” she says. She is especially pleased that the exhibit is free.

According to Collens, di Suvero is also thrilled. He has lived in New York City for decades, and came to Governors Island to participate in the installation of his work.

Although gigantic in size, the sculptures are inviting and sometimes playful. One of them has a swing, another, a bell. Di Suvero’s most recent work, “Figolu,” made for this show, has three large buoys that bobble in the wind. One of the most surprising sculptures is called “Mahatma.” A bent piece of steel sits atop an enormous I-beam. After watching it for a moment it becomes apparent that it must be suspended on ball bearings because it moves.

A few of the sculptures are clearly figurative, like “Old Buddy (For Rosko),” which di Suvero created in memory of his dog and which resembles a four-legged animal. Most of the sculptures are abstract.

If there is meaning in them, it is what the viewer brings to them and in the very act of creating them. In 1960, di Suvero was severely injured in a construction accident and was confined to a wheel chair for three years. That he emerged from that ordeal able to create art of such size and energy is a testament to human will and perseverance. His materials are also meaningful. He takes industrial scraps and cast-offs and transforms them. His early wooden sculptures were made from buildings that were being torn down in Lower Manhattan.

A 19th century house in Nolan Park serves as a visitor center for the di Suvero installation with photographs and videos of the sculptor’s work at Storm King. A guide accessible via cellphone has been created for the exhibition, which continues through Sept. 25.

Governors Island is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and holiday Mondays. The first ferry departs at 10 a.m. Go early to avoid long lines at the ferry, which leaves from the Battery Maritime Building at the corner of South and Whitehall Sts. in Manhattan and from Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park (Saturdays and Sundays only). For up-to-date ferry schedules, go to www.govisland.com.