Woytuck’s Figures Move onto Broadway

There they are, two full-size bronze elephants in Columbus Circle. One looks south, trunk raised in greeting; the other gazes north, up Broadway, with a large red apple nestled in its curving trunk. Peter Woytuck's whimsical, soothing sculptures are visiting the city. And they seem a little overwhelmed. At home in the country, Kent, the mighty beasts are enormous, majestic. They dominate the fields where Woytuck places them, dwarf the Morrison gallery when residing in the parking lot. But New York City actually dwarfs them with the grandiose Time Warner Center looming on the west, Trump's undistinguished hotel to the north, and stolid, bulky apartment buildings to the south. Even the plaza fountain seems ornate and huge. The elephants are in residence as part of “Woytuck on Broadway,” a two-years-in-the-planning collaboration between the Broadway Mall Association, the city's Parks Department and the Morrison Gallery in Kent, Woytuck's main exhibition space. The sculptor is the sixth artist invited to show along the 100 blocks of Broadway running north from Columbus Circle. (Surprisingly, there are 83 malls along the route encompassing 10.6 acres of park, and exhibition space.) Of course the pachyderms have grown comfortable in their noisy, busy surroundings, probably because they are hits with the crowds who visit and touch them each day. (Woytuck is pleased that some of the red finish on the apple is wearing away from the warmth of so many hands.) These figures are calmly placid amid the tumult, smoothly self-assured against the excesses around them. The elephants are only two of 46 Woytuck pieces placed along the malls all the way to 160th Street. Some are more successful, more at home than others. “The Falling Apples” (Woytuck has long been obsessed with apples) in the little median park across from Lincoln Center Plaza is hardly noticeable. While this is probably due to the limited space given Woytuck and gallery owner William Morrison here, it is too bad. One of the larger, more interesting sculptures would have complemented the brilliantly designed renovations that are transforming and humanizing Lincoln Center itself. But walk north (they are short blocks) and be charmed at how vividly the Woytuck pieces animate their urban settings: A large Asian bearcat balances on an apple at 67th Street, a signature Woytuck raven perched on his outstretched “arm;” a wonderfully comic, bright blue kiwi bird rests on its backside outside the little building that houses the 72nd Street subway entrance. Simple, inviting benches at 73rd and 79th streets are homes to bronze birds; four ostriches welcome you to 86th Street, while a large, bronze watering can with a raven sitting on top is at the 96th Street intersection. Woytuck’s naively erotic spooning pears, “A Pair,” nuzzle at 107th Street. And finally, at 160th Street, three hefty bulls — perhaps Woytuck's signature creations — rest near the highest spot in Manhattan, close to the famous Morris-Jumel Mansion, the city's oldest house. They seem at home in this neighborhood of surprising gentility. “Woytuck on Broadway Mall” will be in place through April, when Woytuck and Morrison hope they will receive an extension through the summer. The elephants, alas, will come home earlier. City bureaucrats will only let them stay until the end of March. (As New Yorkers say, “go figure.”) The show is easy to visit, since there are maps of the entire exhibition at each location along Broadway. There is also a free audio tour — in English and in Spanish — available on cell phones. The calling numbers are posted at every location.