Fancy Animal Carnival Hung Yi
Garment District Plazas Broadway, Between 41st Street & 36th Street
Fantastical beasts from halfway around the world are coming to the Garment District!
The Garment District Alliance is thrilled to welcome Fancy Animal Carnival, by renowned Taiwanese contemporary artist Hung Yi as the latest part of our Art on the Plazas program. This series of eleven pieces featuring massive colorful animals will arrive on September 20th and remain here on to brighten our Autumn and Winter through April 15th, on the pedestrian plazas between 36th and 41st Streets.
Each of the animal sculptures represents a narrative, expressed through traditional Taiwanese symbols and motifs believed to bring luck. The painted patterns reflect on folk culture and religion, as well as the artist’s personal experiences and observations of people’s everyday lives.
The sculptures are being brought over by Emmanuel Fremin Gallery (New York), and InSian Gallery (Taiwan).
Each of the eight animal sculptures represents a narrative, expressed through traditional Taiwanese symbols and motifs believed to bring luck. The painted patterns reflect on folk culture and religion, as well as the artist’s personal experiences and observations of people’s everyday lives.
“Fancy Animal Carnival is a spectacular installation that amazes New Yorkers and visitors alike with its impeccable structure and vibrant coloring,” said Barbara Blair, president of the Garment District Alliance. “Hung Yi is a tremendously talented artist, whose creativity embodies the spirit and character of the Garment District. We are thrilled to showcase this exhibit on the Broadway pedestrian plazas, and I am confident it will be New York City’s hottest public art installation this fall.”
Ou Hsien Cheng, Director of Taipai’s InSian Gallery, said of Yi, “He individually forges steel plates, and adds to their surface a rich palette of painted symbols and forms from Taiwanese folk art and daily life. In this way, Hung Yi transfers the two-dimensional language of painting into three-dimensional sculpture, all with the distinctive quality of Taiwanese culture and his own unique style.”
Hung Yi was born in Taichung, Taiwan in 1970. Formerly an owner of nine restaurants, he later decided to pursue art full time in 2002. His works are inspired by Taiwanese culture and daily life in Taiwan, and are often brightly colored, in traditional Taiwanese patterns, with themes of exaggerated humans or animals. His works are displayed in many other locations, including airports, theater halls, elementary schools and universities around the world.
Garment District Art on the Plazas is made possible through Arterventions, part of the New York City Department of Transportation’s Art Program. The Garment District Alliance and DOT work closely to coordinate the exhibit and install the pieces, which enhance the public plazas and make them even more welcoming to New Yorkers and visitors alike.
The Garment District is home to thousands of people working in the "creative economy,” including fine and performing artists, designers, architects, photographers and more than a hundred theaters, galleries, performance spaces and studios.
Technical Support for this exhibition has been provided by Orangenius, an online platform for the creative community. Through iBeacon technology, Orangenius will be providing passers-by additional information about each sculpture when they are within 30 feet of the piece.
For more information about this event, please refer to the following links, or contact Kate Flanagan at kate@orangenius.com: