Medieval figures have escaped from the Cloisters and gathered in nearby park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Cloisters Lawn, Fort Tryon Park
Daily through September 13, free
www.forttryonparktrust.org
armors slideshow
The Met Cloisters in Upper Manhattan is one of three locations displaying the breathtaking exhibition “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” a spectacular collection of haute couture inspired by Roman Catholicism; other parts of the show are also on view on the first floor of the Met Fifth Ave. as well as in the Costume Institute. But on your way to the Cloisters, be sure to stop off at the Cloisters Lawn in Fort Tryon Park, where Icelandic artist Steinunn Thorarinsdottir’s “Armors” continues through September 13. On the vast grassy area surrounded by trees and a pathway overlooking the Hudson River, Thorarinsdottir has placed three pairs of life-size silver human figures, each consisting of one naked, faceless being and one wearing medieval armor. As people walk around and in between the sculptures, it is as if past, present, and future are coming together. To get the armor just right, Thorarinsdottir, whose previous public works include “Ice in the City” in London, “Places” in Copenhagen, and “Borders” in Chicago in addition to many in her hometown of Reykjavik and the current “Trophies” in Dresden, made 3D scans of suits of armor in the Met’s permanent collection. The androgynous figures appear to be in the midst of conversation, a kind of intriguing intervention in the bucolic park, especially as cars pass by on one side and the now-inescapable selfie-makers create evanescent new groups with the figures, then drift away.