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A story about Mythology, Survival and Resilience
Monumental version:
Unveiled October 17, Union Square, New York
N.Y.C. Legend is also available in a smaller size in a limited edition of 49.
Read more at the bottom of this page.
“My work explores how our past shapes our future through some of our most human traits, such as our unyielding desire to indulge and consume, our innate attractions to myths and legends, and our relentless quest for divine power and control.”
— Alexander Klingspor
N.Y.C. Legend is Alexander Klingspor’s first monumental bronze sculpture in collaboration with Mollbrinks. It was cast at the renowned Perseo Foundry, with a smaller version shown at the 2022 London Art Fair. It is on display in Union Square, NYC between October 2023 and June 2024 through NYC Parks Art In The Parks Program and Union Square Partnership
STORIES ARE THE VERY backbone of human civilization. Across time, myths and legends give shape to our shared consciousness through sculptures, paintings, and architecture. They allow us to place ourselves in a greater context alongside other creatures who often take on deeply symbolic roles.
ENTER THE ALLIGATOR. With its armor of scales and ability to regrow limbs, it is a symbol for survival across many ancient mythologies. Yet its story also has a home in modern New York, where what started in the late 1920s as a practice of importing baby alligators from Louisiana and Florida quickly transformed into tales of rogue underground monsters that have spanned the rise and fall of stock markets, neighborhoods, and culture shifts from the Beats to hip hop.
THE METAPHOR IS NOT SURPRISING:
alligators, like New Yorkers, are built to survive in the extreme. In this century alone, New Yorkers have lived through terrorist attacks, financial crashes, blackouts, and a pandemic. When other cities have depopulated, New Yorkers have stayed and thrived, their skin thick and their senses attuned as they move between the subway and the sidewalk.
DRAWING ON THE CENTURY-OLD urban legend of New York sewer alligators, N.Y.C. Legend puts a modern spin on the process by which myth becomes art with a tribute to the greatest city in the world. It is also a testament to our timeless drive to find icons in nature, and to the bridge that myth builds between the ancient and modern that still echoes today.
“Alexander Klingspor’s striking bronze sculpture, N.Y.C. Legend, joins the impressive collection of iconic public sculptures proudly on display throughout New York City. Its placement in Union Square, one of Manhattan’s most prominent and bustling locations, for a period of eight months allows for wide spread and meaningful engagement with the public. We take great pride in showcasing Klingspor’s masterpiece and are hopeful for its permanent installation following the exhibition period.”
— Joseph Douek
NYC PLANNING COMMISSIONER
Born in Stockholm in 1977. He started his education studying under Swedish artist and illustrator Michael Boston. At age 22, Klingspor moved to Kansas City, Missouri, to apprentice under the renowned American illustrators and painters, father and son Mark English and John English. Upon returning to Stockholm, he joined the workshop of Magnus Bratt, a copyist for Sweden’s National Museum specializing in sixteenth-century oil painting. Later on, Klingspor studied structural anatomy with sculptors Chris Raccioppi, Paul Oestreicher, and Frank Procu at the Art Students League in New York.
BETWEEN 2008 AND 2019, Klingspor lived in New York City, where he focused on large-scale, multi-figurative oil paintings addressing questions of consumption, isolation, and imagination. With gallery representation in New York, Stockholm, and London, he maintained studios in New York’s Union Square and Stockholm’s Royal Academy and his work was exhibited at Christie’s Stockholm, the LA Art Show, the Miami Art Fair, and Sweden’s Waldermasudde and VIDA museums, as well as numerous international galleries.
AMONG KLINGSPOR’S commissioned projects were paintings for foundations helmed by Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia of Sweden and Prince Albert II of Monaco, the latter benefitting global environmental sustainability. In 2018, Klingspor also collaborated with novelist Sir Salman Rushdie and composer Ittai Shapira on “The Midnight’s Children Project,” a visual and musical interpretation of Rushdie’s award-winning novel exploring the use of magical realism to make sense of cultural conflict. The musical score was performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the project was an official selection at numerous film festivals, including the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival.
BEGINNING IN 2020, Klingspor expanded to bronze sculpture, casting his work at the acclaimed Perseo Foundry in Switzerland. Early pieces were shown at the London Art Fair in 2022, with the largest on display from October 2023 to June 2024 in New York’s Union Square Park. Notable collectors of Klingspor’s work include Sir Salman Rushdie, Iris Cantor, Whoopie Goldberg, and Stellan Skarsgård.
Established in 1952 in Mendrisio, Switzerland; it has always maintained and demonstrated strong ties with the art world and its sculptors.
The Art Foundry Perseo’s use of top-quality materials, its strong technical support, and the expertise of its suppliers make it the leading foundry in Switzerland. Together with the traditional Lost Wax Technique, it specializes in the Vacuum Technique and in the Ceramic Mould Casting Technique.
Over the past seventy years, the Art Foundry Perseo has collaborated with numerous famous editors, gallerists, and artists such as Salvador Dalí, Rolf Brem, Nag Arnoldi, Alfredo Battistini, and many others.
The company takes its name from the first documentation of the “lost wax” process by Benvenuto Cellini: the “PERSEO”. This ancient technique, which dates back as far as 5000 B.C., is still used to cast bronze sculptures. The process allows a bronze sculpture to remain completely faithful to the original model created by the artist.
ESTABLISHED in 1957 by Lars Mollbrink and has continuously operated as a family owned business. Today, the gallery is run by Lars Mollbrink’s son and grandson, Jan Mollbrink and Johan Hauffman. Mollbrinks has two galleries in Sweden, with the flagship in the academic town of Uppsala and the other location in the southern town of Kungshamn on the Swedish west coast.
THE GALLERY EXHIBITS a wide range of modern masters of the 20th century as well as 19th century art but specializes in three artists of the two eras: Anders Zorn, Salvador Dalí, and Marc Chagall.
IN MORE RECENT YEARS, Mollbrinks has increased its focus on international contemporary artists with an emphasis on international art fairs and public sculpture exhibitions.
MOLLBRINKS PARTICIPATES regularly in International art fairs such as the London Art Fair and Swedish high-status fairs such as GRAND Antiques, Art & Design at Liljevalchs Konsthall, and Antikmässan arranged by Stockholmsmässan.
The location of the monumental sculpture
Thompson Central Park is offering friends and supports of the exhibit preferred rates when booking by using the special offer code GATOR.
A signed and numbered limited edition version of this sculpture (height 27 cm, 40 cm incl stone base) is available for purchase.
