Will Ryman’s colorful, large-scale roses are blossoming on Park Ave. (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Park Ave. Mall from 57th to 67th Sts.
January 25 – May 31
Admission: free
www.willryman.com
twi-ny slideshow
Amid the doom and gloom of a gray and slushy January, a beautiful bunch of enormous pink and red roses have sprouted on the Park Ave. Mall between 57th & 67th Sts. The hand-painted blossoms, which rise as high as twenty-five feet in the air, are a surprisingly cheerful installation by Will Ryman, who is more well known for his theater-of-the-absurd papier-mâché creations featuring a collection of tall, gangly, dour figures and a bevy of small people trapped in the base of a deep pit. (Ryman, the son of minimalist painter Robert Ryman and abstract artist Merrill Wagner, tried his hand at playwrighting before deciding to take his characters from paper to papier-mâché.) In September 2009, inspired by the beginning of David Lynch’s 1984 cult film BLUE VELVET, Ryman unveiled “A New Beginning” at the Marlborough Gallery in Chelsea, an engaging environment populated by huge roses accompanied by giant insects and oversized trash. For the Park Ave. exhibit, a joint venture of the Fund for Park Ave., the Paul Kasmin Gallery, and the New York City Parks Dept. that officially opens on Tuesday, there are ladybugs, aphids, beetles, ants, and bees buzzing around the flowers and thorn-laden stems, but no garbage, as bright green stems lift the roses toward the heights of the surrounding buildings. Individual rose petals will occupy 63rd to 65th Sts. The pieces, which are composed of yacht-grade fiberglass resin, stainless steel, automotive paint, and brass, will remain on view through May 31, so it will be fascinating to see how the installation seemingly changes as winter turns into spring and summer beckons. “In my work I always try to combine fantasy with reality,” Ryman said in a statement. “In the case of ‘The Roses,’ I tried to convey New York City’s larger-than-life qualities through scale, creating blossoms which are imposing, humorous, and hopefully beautiful.” As it turns out, this expert of the absurd has done all of that and more.