Self placed a couple mid-embrace at the exact seam where the museum's SANAA building meets its OMA expansion, so the architecture and the sculpture are doing the same gesture at two different scales. Her practice sews, prints and paints figures into being, usually women, always with the seams showing, and translating that to a building facade turns a private tenderness into street furniture. It is free, it is visible from two blocks of the Bowery, and it comes down at the end of the month.
What to expect
An exterior sculpture mounted high on the New Museum's facade, best read from across the street rather than directly beneath it. No entry, no ticket, and it works as a stop on a Lower East Side gallery walk.
Good to know
- Free from the sidewalk with no museum admission needed
- Cross to the east side of the Bowery for the full sightline
- The 6 to Spring Street or F to Second Avenue are the nearest subways
- Prince Street gives a second, tighter angle on the work
- The Sarah Lucas plaza sculpture stands a few steps away, also free
- Daylight is essential; the facade is much harder to read after dark
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Common questions
Do I need to go inside the museum?
No. Art Lovers is mounted on the building's exterior and is free to view from Bowery and Prince Street.
What is the Facade Sculpture Program?
An ongoing New Museum commission series placing site-specific sculpture on the museum's exterior.
Where is Tschabalala Self from?
She was born in Harlem in 1990 and now lives and works in the Hudson Valley.
More this weekend
