Works in Public: Sophie Kahn & Marco Palli

The Art Students League of New York and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation are proud to present Works in Public at Riverside Park (145th Street).

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The year-long outdoor public art exhibition at 145th Street and Riverside Park in Manhattan features new site-specific sculptures by League artists Sophie Kahn and Marco Palli. The works join two additional projects which were unveiled in Riverside Park South in July 2023.

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Sophie Kahn (b. Melbourne, Australia) lives in Brooklyn, NY. A sculptor and digital artist, Kahn utilizes technology—in its successes and failures—to analyze the complexity and poetics of capturing the human body in the digital age. Working from a 3D scan of musician and artist tiger west, Portrait of t. brings the digital, private realm into the public through a glitched body scan cast in bronze. In conversation with the veteran and war monuments already extant at Riverside Park, Kahn highlights the importance of celebrating anonymous lives in the public sphere.

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Marco Palli (b. Venezuela) lives in New York, NY. Palli uses material to question his daily processes and how they engage with his identity. Expanding beyond the personal, Palli’s sculpture presents an opportunity for audiences to engage with the narratives of local versus foreign and the sense of belonging within the United States. Our Gates is a celebration of New York City and its diverse communities, utilizing interlocking arches to both welcome visitors into the community and to encourage them to pass through into a symbolic space of participation, experimentation, and intrepid opportunity.

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‍About Works in Public

Works in Public is a professional development program founded in 2010 in partnership with The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to guide League students through the process of creating large-scale sculpture for outdoor public spaces within the context of one-year and two-year programs at the Art Students League of New York. Under the guidance of Works in Public alumni Haksul Lee and Natsuki Takauji, alongside instructors at the League, the program supports artist-participants in every phase of the conception, creation, and installation of site-specific public sculpture, culminating in a one-year public exhibition at Riverside Park and Riverside Park South.

Learn more about Works in Public.

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The Art Student League of New York programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. We gratefully acknowledge leadership support for Works in Public from The Harry Feinberg Family Foundation and John Padgett. Works in Public is also made possible with the major support of Dr. Lawrence Spielberger & Dr. Greta Spanierman FamilyFoundation, Ludmila Schwartzenberg Bidwell, Susan Dryfoos and Kathleen H.Seidel. Additional support is also provided by the Brigitte and William Crovello Foundation Inc.