Walking through 30 Rock last Monday afternoon, I came out into Rockefeller Plaza upon sculptor Thomas Houseago Masks (Pentagon), which was being installed overlooking the Rockefeller Center ice rink. Right where the Christmas goes every year. It was unveiled and consists of five upright plaster masks, each more than 14-feet tall, joined together to create an interior space. One mask looks like a winking skull, another, formed by overlapping slabs is barely recognizable as a face. Mr. Houseago told WSJ:
“It’s as close as you will get, in a way, to having my studio in Rockefeller Plaza. You become part of the work and the city becomes part of the work.”
It took about a year and a half to create the all of the masks. Mr. Houseago is originally from Leeds, England. He moved to L.A. more than a decade ago and says Pablo Picasso and Darth Vader among his influences. His hulking pieces have been on display in public before, in places like the High Line and City Hall Park to the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, Italy.
“It’s so risky, and it’s so terrifying. Hopefully kids will enjoy walking in it. And maybe one of those kids will think about being an artist, and that would be fabulous. That’s always the dream, that you give people that space to wonder.”
(via WSJ)
