Displaying items by tag: Brooklyn

A stone sculpture of what appears to be a goddess was uncovered in Brooklyn, NY last summer at the site of an old spice warehouse hub. Local developer, Two Trees Management Company, discovered the sculpture while building a mixed-use tower at the location.

The armless nude who measures about three feet tall and weighs approximately 400 pounds, was trapped in demolition debris from the mid-20^th century. Excavating equipment damaged the sculpture, affectionately named Ginger, before anyone noticed it. Other artifacts such as 18^th century foundation stones and pottery shards were also found at the site.

Experts believe that Ginger could have originally served as a garden ornament, brothel advertisement or ship ballast and that the sculptor was most likely not formally trained. Scientists will analyze Ginger this spring in hopes of learning more about the artwork’s maker and age. Until then, Ginger will remain on view at the Two Trees headquarters.

The fashion company DKNY will donate $25,000 to a YMCA on behalf of photographer Brandon Stanton after using his works without permission. Stanton, who lives in New York and runs a popular photo blog titled Humans of New York, was approached by DKNY a few months earlier when the company hoped to buy 300 of Stanton’s photographs for a worldwide storefront display. The photographer found their $15,000 offer too low and Stanton and DKNY were unable to reach a monetary agreement.

On Monday, February 25, 2013 a fan of Stanton’s blog sent him a picture of a DKNY storefront in Bangkok, which was full of his photographs. Rather than seeking legal action against DKNY for using his work without permission and compensation, Stanton asked his Facebook fans to share the story while urging the company to donate $100,000 on his behalf to a YMCA in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

After 28,907 people shared Stanton’s story, DKNY issued an apology and vowed to donate $25,000 in Stanton’s name to the YMCA of his choice. The company claimed that the use of Stanton’s work was a mistake and that the Bangkok outpost accidently used an internal mock up as a storefront display. The mock up, which included Stanton’s images, was meant to show the direction of the company’s spring visual program.

The Brooklyn Museum of Art has once more riled Christian leaders over an exhibit they deem offensive. This time the controversy is over 10 seconds in a short avant-garde video that shows ants skittering over the crucified Jesus.

The video -- "A Fire in My Belly," by the late David Wojnarowicz -- was yanked from the National Portrait Gallery last year because the ant part angered some in Congress and the Catholic League.

Nonetheless, the Brooklyn Museum, known for edgy exhibits, is forging ahead with next week's plans to open the exhibit "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture." The exhibit explores how gender and sexual identity have shaped American art; the video is one of 100 pieces in the show.

The Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn has sent a letter to the museum asking that the video be pulled from the exhibit, according to the New York Daily News. "Certainly we don't think this would be tolerated if this was the image of the Prophet Muhammed or any other religious symbol," Msg. Kieran Harrington, a diocese spokesman, told the paper.

In 1999, the Brooklyn Museum ran up against Catholic leaders and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani when it exhibited a painting by Chris Ofili that featured the Virgin Mary with a clump of elephant dung and cutout images of female genitalia. The then-mayor tried to cut public funding from the museum.