Harlem has a new resident celebrity, and she's ready for her close-up.
"Reclining Liberty," a 25-foot-long sculpture of a lounging Statue of Liberty by artist Zaq Landsberg, arrived in Morningside Park over the weekend.
Inspired by the giant reclining Buddhas found in Asia, the statue of Liberty is already attracting visitors on her hilly perch just up from the entrance at Morningside Avenue and W 120th Street, where she will remain until April 2022.
Many of her biggest fans seem to be children, who have been clambering over Liberty ever since she was first installed. (According to the artist's statement, the statue, coated in plaster resin, "is sturdy enough to allow viewers to touch, climb, sit atop, lean up against the figure, and interact with the monument at a human level.")
Landsberg, who has been adding a oxidized copper-like patina to the sculpture in recent days, confirms there's a political message to the sculpture.
Is Liberty sleeping? Or is it simply reclining?
He says it's up to the viewer to decide: "I don't want to hit people over the head with it."
