Paul Goldfinger © Bond Street. A. Park. October, 2017.
There seems to be a fondness for spontaneous art appearing throughout the hip city of Asbury Park. You can see it on walls in the Casino, on the boardwalk and around the artsy neighborhood of Cookman Avenue and its side-streets–even painted on windows and doorways. Art is especially beautiful when it is part of the everyday life of the people.
It reminds me of the work of Seward Johnson, the sculptor of ordinary folks, whose work is often found in public places:
Carl Hoffman of Ocean Grove helping this Princeton student prepare for SAT’s in Palmer Square. The boy is by Seward Johnson. Blogfinger photo © 2015
Ocean Grove can use some public art to liven up the place. The town has no significant outdoors art displays for the public to enjoy. It is wonderful when one can walk down a street and come across an art show of some sort, and Asbury seems committed to bringing their city to life with art.
Paul Goldfinger ©. The Casino belongs to A. Park.
AP Boardwalk 2016
Indie 184 2015. Asbury Boardwalk. Blogfinger photo.
Here’s a link to our article last year about Seward Johnson’s work in Spring Lake:
Seward Johnson in Spring Lake, 2016.
BRUNO MARS:
I would be willing to make a small donation ($100) to bring J Seward Johnson sculptures to OG. I know there are many people in OG a lot richer than me (eg doctors, lawyers, etc,) who love the arts, who might contribute.
Surfer: If you click on the Spring Lake link within this post, you will find out that “Local citizens arranged the event presented by the Spring Lake Business Improvement District, along with the Spring Lake 5, the Spring Lake library, and the Clayton Livery.”
We don’t need government for this. We need more events by the community of residents in OG so as to better define who we are.
There were 14 sculptures in Spring Lake, and they were designed to be outdoors and expected to be handled by people and not hidden behind velvet ropes at some museum.
And from the Steward Johnson Atelier: “Seward Johnson initially became widely known for his sculptures depicting people engaged in every day activities. Johnson’s desire to highlight the mundane in his Celebrating the Familiar sculpture series has brought a unique voice to the world of art in public spaces.”
So, the “world of art in public spaces” is a reputable idea, so why can’t we try it here? Maybe a committee of local artists and the proprietors of OG galleries could make this happen.
I fully agree . Although OG is beautiful and a work of art itself we need Art . I suggest that the OG Chamber of Commerce and/or the OGCMA initiate a campaign to place artists works in stores in town & sculptures around town .
I totally agree. OG would be delightful with outdoor sculptures like those created by J. Seward Johnson.
I think it comes down to money. Probably Spring Lake “rented” those JSJ sculptures last year from Grounds for Sculpture.
Who will invest money in art for OG? The OGCMA, Ocean Grove Counting Money Association? The Neptune Township Committee? The OGHOA? Chamber of Commerce?
I don’t see any of those organizations doing anything like this for us. Also, they would probably be afraid of the responsibility of protecting such sculptures.
Belmar had abstract sculptures on floating platforms at Silver Lake a few years ago. They were safe from human interference. But, JSJ sculptures need to be accessible so people can interact with them.