Andy in Chrome

There is a wonderful bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Union Square that stands, rather incongruously I think, in a small, gated leafy glen. Larger than life and in full purposeful stride, the statue exudes strength and purpose; hardly the frail ascetic portrayals usually expected from photographic and artistic images. It’s been there since 1986 and I always visit him whenever I’m in the neighborhood.

If Gandhi came to life and continued his stroll north he would encounter a much more incongruous sight; that is, Rob Pruitt’s “The Andy Monument” in full glare. In the right light this sculpture is probably blinding. But in the “wrong” light (who’s to say what the correct lighting is for an outdoor work of art?) it’s more pewter than chrome. Anyway, it sits on a pedestrian traffic-island at West 17th St. and, as a monument to Andy Warhol it is fittingly impossible to ignore and blinds you to the actual quality of the sculpture itself (dubious at best). The figure is holding a shopping bag that says Medium Brown Bag on the side (a Bloomingdales marketing ploy back in the day) and what looks like a Polaroid camera hung on a strap around its neck (not sure about this). The official press release blatts: “The figure is based on a combination of digital scanning of a live model and hand sculpting, its surface finished in chrome [and is] mounted on a concrete pedestal. It depicts Warhol as a ghostly, silver presence: a potent cultural force as both artist and self-created myth. As Rob Pruitt observes, ‘Like so many other artists and performers and people who don’t fit in because they’re gay or otherwise different, Andy moved here to become who he was, to fulfill his dreams and make it big. He still represents that courage and that possibility. That’s why I came to New York, and that’s what my Andy Monument is about.’”

Warhol was a master of hype so why shouldn’t Pruitt give it the old college try? It got him a spot on a corner at Union Square. Good for him. Oh yeah, as usual with me these days, I gave the sculpture a bonk with my knuckles and it’s definitely hollow. Make of that what you will.