Exit Art, the alternative non-profit gallery and art space located at 36th St and 10th Avenue is hosting its final Gala event tonight, appropriately titled "Exit With A Bang!" The event includes a slew of performances, including feminist artist Martha Wilson as Barbara Bush impersonator, a magic performance, and music, specifically by Jerry Harrison of the Talking heads, among others. There's also a silent auction of works by seminal artists like Tom Otterness, Ida Applebroog, and Lawrence Weiner. more ›

There will be no new Tom Otterness sculptures in Battery Park City. Though Otterness already did the lovely "penny park" at the north end of the park, the Battery Park City Authority has nixed an anonymously gifted $750,000 bronze lion and cubs sculpture by the artist meant for the Battery Park branch of the New York Public Library. Though the BPCA says the decision was because of a "lack of transparency" regarding control of the work and where it came from, the world-renowned sculptor's history of animal abuse (and the many petitions deriding it) is the more likely culprit. more ›

Two years ago when sculptor Tom Otterness was installing his latest piece in Brooklyn, his past came back to haunt him. As you might recall, back in his younger days he adopted a shelter dog, chained it to a fence, and shot it... for art. Now that he's been commissioned to sculpt bronze lions at the Battery Park Branch of the New York Public Library (for $750,000!), his dark past is resurfacing again, with PETA protesting and petitions popping up. But the NYPL says they're the wrong target. more ›

Sculptor Tom Otterness, best known for his whimsical statues in subways and city parks, is having a hard time getting past his other reason for notoriety. The sculptor has been commissioned for $750,000 by a mysterious donor to build lion and cub statues for the Battery Park City branch of the New York Public Library. This is how horror movies start, right? Community Board 1 voted 23-7 to approve the commission, despite outrage over a film Otterness made in the 1970s in which he shot a dog. However, at least one New Yorker hasn't forgiven him. "I think if he shot a dog, he should be shot," said one pet owner. more ›

Hey did you know Tom Otterness makes playgrounds? Just one of his many quirky hobbies. Curbed points out that the massive Silver Towers rising on Eleventh Avenue in Hell's Kitchen have launched a website, which promises future tenants an Otterness playground for the kiddies. But wait, this thing looks familiar! Yep, he's made that same playground before. In fact, if you've got the cash, he'll make one for you, too. more ›

Even though Tom Otterness, who just installed his newest creation in DUMBO, cheers up commuting New Yorkers underground...he has a dark past that wouldn't make anyone smile. The artist, in short, shot a dog (that he adopted) for the sake of "art" -- something he did, and filmed, 20 years ago. more ›

While a Tom Otterness sculpture can really brighten up the dark underground of New York, for his latest installation he's shedding some sunlight on his work. The above was just installed in DUMBO near the pedestrian exit to the Brooklyn Bridge. more ›

the possibility of another large surplus next year without a fare hike. Despite projections that put the agency in the black, it says they face a deficit in 2009. more ›

EVENTS: Both Open House NY and The New Yorker Festival are upon us. You can check out more of OHNY's event here, and The New Yorker Festival here. Some picks: more ›

With his new Humpty Dumpty balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the NY Times has three great video pieces with sculptor Tom Otterness. One is naturally about having a balloon in the parade, and another is about his themes as an artist. But the best one is about his wonderful subway installations at the West 14th Street A/C/E and L station: Otterness discusses the statue that's in the stairwell (see the screengrab at left) being touched by straphanders for good luck. more ›

The Thanksgiving Day parade balloons have been inflating all day, and by now there are thousands of people up around the Natural History Museum checking them out. Some nice Gothamist readers have snapped some pictures-- check out Kathryn's photo set-- she even got one of Maybe Bloomberg in front of Clifford! Did anyone get a good shot of Dora the Explorer or Tom Otterness' balloon? Send us a link to your pix and we'll add them to this post-- or send your pictures to photos@gothamist.com and they'll appear on our contribute page. more ›

Ooh: Sculptor Tom Otterness has a helium balloon in tomorrow's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - a balloon of Humpty Dumpty. Humpty Dumpty seems like a perfect subject for Otterness, whose round figures do seem eggish. You can see the balloons for the parade being blown up on the Upper West Side, at West 77th and West 81st Streets and Central Park West (near the Museum of Natural History), from 3PM-10PM today. [Gothamist went two years ago, and we saw a nutty balloon orgy.] Today's Times also looks at the training baloon handlers are getting this year. Those who fail to remember history...blah blah blah. We can recall all the changes that Macy's made a year after the injury of a spectator in 1997, but it looks like those changes are history. more ›

Gothamist always wondered how public art got around, and now, in the case of Tom Otterness's Broadway Mall sculptures, we know that it's by flatbed truck, as skilled art movers were packing things up. Gothamist is sad to see his fun sculptures leave the stretch of Broadway from 64th Street up to 168th Street go, but since they are heading to Indianopolis to brighten the streets there, we're not too sad. Besides, you can see Otterness's sculptures all over the city, from Park Avenue to subway stations.
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Newsday on how it took years to put this show together; the president of the Broadway Mall Association, which keeps up those benches and green areas in the middle of Broadway, had to get the approval of community boards all along the 100 blocks.
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the Clinton-era White House. more ›