Robert Indiana's iconic sculpture LOVE has returned to Rockefeller Center in New York. First installed in 1971, the sculpture, which has been loved over decades as the city’s landmark, was removed in 2019 from the intersection of 6th Avenue and 55th Street for conservation. The LOVE sculpture is a large-scale polychrome aluminum sculpture standing at a height of 3.6 meters, featuring the stacked letters L, O, V, and E in bold red and blue colors. Indiana incorporated universal symbols like numbers and letters, as he referred to himself as the "American painter of signs."
Rockefeller Center, in collaboration with the Robert Indiana Legacy Initiative, is currently exhibiting the artist's monumental works throughout the center's surroundings. In addition to LOVE, a set of massive steel sculptures ONE Through ZERO (The Ten Numbers) (1980-2001), standing at a height of 2.5 meters, are also on view on Central Plaza. This work consists of individual numbers from 0 to 9, symbolizing the various stages of human life. The artist often expressed his deep interest and affection for numbers, saying, "[Numbers] fill my life more than love. We are immersed in numbers from the moment we are born."
Surrounding The Rink at Rockefeller Center are 193 flags that utilize 12 images from the Peace Paintings series created by the artist in 2003 following the 9/11 attacks. These works convey messages of lamentation, unity, and love for the victims. This public exhibition, which brings together Robert Indiana's representative works dedicated to themes of love, birth and death, and peace, will run through October 23.
로버트 인디애나(1928-2018)의 아이코닉한 조각 작품 〈LOVE〉가 뉴욕 록펠러 센터의 플라자로 돌아왔다. 1971년 첫 설치된 이후 뉴욕의 랜드마크로 수십 년 동안 사랑받는 이 조각은 2019년 보존을 위해 6번가와 55번가 교차로에서 철거되었다. 〈LOVE〉는 LO과 VE가 위아래로 쌓인 형태의 높이 3.6m의 대형 알루미늄 조각으로 빨간색과 파란색이 선명히 교차하며 칠해져 있다. 숫자와 문자 같은 보편적인 기호를 주로 사용하며, 스스로를 ‘미국의 사인 화가’라고 칭했던 인디애나의 작품 세계를 집약한 작품이다.
록펠러 센터는 로버트 인디애나 레거시 이니셔티브와 협력하여 작가의 기념비적인 작품을 센터 주변 곳곳에 전시 중이다. 〈LOVE〉 이외에도 강철로 만든 높이 2.5 m의 거대한 숫자 조각 〈ONE Through ZERO (The Ten Numbers)〉(1980-2001)이 설치되었다. 0에서 9까지 개별 숫자로 구성된 이 작품은 인간의 탄생과 죽음까지 인생의 각기 다른 단계를 상징한다. 생전 작가는 "숫자는 사랑보다 더 제 삶을 가득 채웁니다. 우리는 태어나는 순간부터 숫자에 몰입하죠"라며 숫자를 향한 관심과 애정을 드러냈다.
록펠러 센터 플라자 주변에는 작가가 2003년 9·11 테러 사건을 겪고 희생자에 대한 애도와 통합과 사랑의 메시지를 담아 제작한 〈Peace Paintings〉 연작 중에서 12점의 이미지를 활용한 193개의 깃발도 만날 수 있다. 사랑, 탄생과 죽음, 평화의 메시지를 추구한 로버트 인디애나의 대표작을 한 자리에 모은 이번 전시는 10월 23일까지 열린다.
Image captions:
1, 2) Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE sculpture is installed at Rockefeller Center, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in New York.
3, 4) A Robert Indiana installation, including the artist’s Peace Paintings series featured on the 193 flags surrounding the Rink at Rockefeller Center, opened today, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, in New York.
5) Robert Indiana, Peace Dives in Oblivion, 2003, Oil on canvas, 67 1/2 × 67 1/2 in. (171.4 × 171.4 cm), diamond, Photo: Dennis and Diana Griggs. Artwork: © The Star of Hope Foundation, Vinalhaven, Maine.
6 )Robert Indiana, Peace: A Pearl in Peril, 2003, Oil on canvas, 50 1/2 × 50 1/2 in. (128.3 × 128.3 cm), diamond, Photo: Dennis and Diana Griggs. Artwork: © The Star of Hope Foundation, inalhaven, Maine.
7, 8) A Robert Indiana installation, including the artist’s monumental numbers sculptures, ONE Through ZERO (The Ten Numbers), opened today, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, at Rockefeller Center in New York.
Rockefeller Center, in partnership with The Robert Indiana Legacy Initiative, present an installation of works by American artist Robert Indiana, on view at the Rockefeller Center campus from Sept. 13 through Oct. 23, 2023. Featuring monumental sculptures and a series of flags surrounding The Rink at Rockefeller Center, the exhibition on highlights works created by Indiana throughout his career, including the long-awaited return of his iconic LOVE sculpture to New York City. (Diane Bondareff/AP Images for The Robert Indiana Legacy Initiative);