George Lindemann Journal - "Exhibition in New York Gives New Perspective on Statue of Liberty" @wsj by Kirthana Ramisetti
A portion of 'Danh Vo: We the People' is seen in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal
Viewed from most every vantage point, the Statue of Liberty is a large, dominant figure bearing a glowing torch, a symbol of American democracy.
But the Public Art Fund's newest exhibit, " Danh Vo : We the People," gives viewers a more intimate and abstract look at the statue.
"We the People" is a life-size replica of the Statue of Liberty broken into 250 components, such as Lady Liberty's ear, a curl of her hair and the folds of her drapery. The conceptual artist Danh Vo created the pieces over three years, using the same copper material and metalwork technique that French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi used to construct the monument nearly 140 years ago.
'Danh Vo: We the People' on display at City Hall Park in New York on May 13. Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal
The Public Art Fund is giving his work a special presentation that spans two boroughs. Beginning Saturday, 53 pieces from the collection will be shown at City Hall Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park, and since the two outdoor spaces are linked by the Brooklyn Bridge, visitors can cross from one park to another while taking in views of the actual Statue of Liberty.
Individual components, such as the ear, will be on display in City Hall Park, while Brooklyn Bridge Park will feature the draped sleeve of the statue's right arm. The arm, made of 13 pieces, will be assembled into three forms.
Mr. Vo said that his inspiration for "We the People" was learning an interesting fact about the statue that belied its immense size.
"When I found that the Statue of Liberty was only the thickness of two pennies, I thought that was very intriguing," he said. "Because you always think of this as, you know, a colossal thing, but in reality two millimeters is not that much."
Even before its formal opening, the exhibit is attracting attention. A small piece of the artwork, a chain-link design from the statue's foot, was stolen from City Hall Park some time between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, a law-enforcement official said. An investigation is under way.
The sculpting method involved laying thin copper sheets over a cast of the statue, which the artist hired a workshop in Shanghai to make. The pieces were then hammered into shape.
As for why he chose to re-create the statue in such a deconstructed way, Mr. Vo said he "wanted to do something that everyone had a relationship to, and make it a bit unfamiliar. It's kind of like creating a Frankenstein that gets its own life."
'Danh Vo: We the People' on display at City Hall Park on May 13. Ramsay de Give for The Wall Street Journal
Andira Hickey, the Public Art Fund's associate curator, said the nonprofit group is excited to be presenting Mr. Vo's unique perspective.
"When you're looking at a massive piece of copper that you have a very intimate relationship [with] right in front of you," she said, "and see it completely transformed into a full figure that you can recognize in the distance, it's such an evocative metaphor for the multitude of perspectives you can have of an icon like that."
Some visitors, though, might find it hard to recognize individual pieces as parts of the Statue of Liberty they know. And some of the more recognizable parts of the statue are in private collections.
Mr. Vo said that in creating "We the People," it was important to him that, unlike the heavy symbolism associated with the Statue of Liberty, his work be open to interpretation.
"When Bartholdi created the Statue of Liberty...he created an image and a political agenda," he said. "What I'm doing with it is a shift of scale and shift of meaning."
He added that his work "is more a project that should evoke discussion in the place that it is exhibited. And we'll have to wait to see what that will be."
"Danh Vo: We the People" will be on view through Dec. 5 at City Hall Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 3 Greenway Terrace.
—Pervaiz Shallwani contributed to this article.