RIGHT NOW WE LOVE (OCTOBER)
submitted by Duncan

'Bust of Sylvette' sculpture by Pablo Picasso

If you travel east along Bleeker Street in Manhattan you will eventually pass NYU's Silver Towers, an arrangement of three apartment buildings designed in 1966 by I.M. Pei. Sitting in the courtyard on a grass verge between the three buildings is an enlargement of the 'Bust of Sylvette', a sculpture by Picasso from 1932.

Standing 12 meters high the sculpture is hard to miss. It was built by Norwegian sculptor Carl Nesjär from black stone with a thin skim of grey concrete - out of which black lines have been sandblasted. It looks like a huge folded piece of card upon which a giant (Picasso's ego) has sketched a quick portrait of a young woman. As you get closer the lines become jagged scars cut into the concrete and you can see why the New York Times once proclaimed it the ugliest piece of public art in the city.

I disagree with this of course. The fact that it can be both ugly and delicate at the same time feels like an achievement to me. The folly of enlarging a small sculpture to something so grand is interesting and the amazing simplicity of the folded stone and rough drawing placed in such an incredible setting make it a highlight for me everytime I cycle past.

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