Iván Navarro “This Land is Your Land” installation at Madison Square Park, New York

As part of Madison Square Park’s ongoing outdoor public arts initiative, Chilean born, Brooklyn based artist Iván Navarro (b.1972), has installed three 16 ft. sculpture resembling water towers, but whose interiors are neon written abysses that travel upwards as far as the eye can perceive. Using parallel mirrors, Navarro creates a trompe l’oeil effect of infinitesimal scale. The installation, titled This Land is Your Land, references the Woody Guthrie song and the Americana history attached; a history of the fight for civil rights, dreams deferred and the ever-persistand drumming of the cries of freedom and equal opportunity. Each sculpture contains a word or concept, effectively Navarro’s interpretation of the American dream. A ladder, climbing endlessly into the vertical abyss, the words ME/WE alternating at infinitum; and the final sculpture with the word BED, wrapped around the interior edges of the structure, suggesting the place where dreams originate, where the worker finally relieves his tired feet and aching back. This site-specific work is on view until April 13th at Madison Square Park, New York. Text and Photo Audrey Rose Smith

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