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The Statue of Liberty may live between New York and New Jersey, but its likeness can be seen all over the Tristate area. One of the most impressive tributes to the iconic statue, “Reclining Liberty,” a 25-foot-long, 2,000-pound statue of Lady Liberty in a Reclining Buddha pose, has resided in both the city and Jersey, and is coming back to the boroughs for her summer residency.
Artist Zaq Landsberg’s “Reclining Liberty” will wrap up its year in Jersey City's Liberty State Park and move into Andrew Logan Projects' Red Hook gallery space (384 Van Brunt St.). This will be the first time the enormous sculpture will be viewable indoors.
Viewers will be able to touch, climb, sit atop, lean up against the figure, and interact with the monument at a human level, like her previous exhibitions in Morningside Park and Liberty State Park. Visitors will also get a brief, rare view of the piece before and during the refinishing process en route to her next destination (location to be announced on June 15). The piece will move into the gallery as is, weathered, worn and burnished by hundreds of thousands of hands over the past year.
“Reclining Liberty” is Landsberg’s mashup of the Statue of Liberty and the giant reclining Buddha statues of Asia. The piece, coated in plaster resin and finished with copper paint and an oxidizing acid, the patina mimics the actual Statue of Liberty. An NYC-based artist, Landsberg specializes in large-scale, site-specific sculptures, and public art. Much of his work involves things that look like other things.
Originally installed in Morningside Park in April 2021, “Reclining Liberty” was instantly popular, i.e. visiting the sculpture in Harlem went viral on social media. That summer, the piece became the backdrop for festivals, birthday parties, dog photo shoots, youth theater and several musical performances and events. By winter, the piece was adorned with candles during the Christmas Tree lighting event, school groups regularly visited, a Buddhist adorned the piece in flowers and incense and performed a funeral rite ceremony for a relative overseas.
“Reclining Liberty” will be on view through June 24, Wednesday - Friday from 2 to 8pm and weekends from noon to 8pm, at Andrew Logan Projects. An opening celebration will be held on June 8th, from 6-8pm.