Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Temporary Statue Of Legendary Photographer Diane Arbus Goes Up In Central Park
By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 19, 2021
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Courtesy of the Public Art Fund
By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 19, 2021
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
How many statues dedicated to real women are in Central Park? Just one, and it only went up last year. A new statue has temporarily joined the landscape, though—the Public Art Fund has brought a life-size sculpture of photographer Diane Arbus to the park's Doris C. Freedman Plaza this week, saying it "asserts the impact of Arbus’s human approach to photography and the visibility of women within the male dominated tradition of public statuary."
Artist Gillian Wearing’s 5’6” tall sculpture "depicts Arbus with her finger on the shutter button of her iconic twin lens camera, as she might have been seen in the 1950s and '60s," the press release notes; it was based on several photographs of Arbus.
There is no base at the bottom of the statue, it stands shoes-to-the-ground so as to further humanize the depiction. There is a plaque to commemorate the piece, however, which includes a quote by Arbus: “If you scrutinize reality closely enough, if in some way you really, really get to it, it becomes fantastic.”
Allan and Diane Arbus (who later divorced). Glamour, April 1951 Portrait, New York.
Frances McLaughlin-Gill/Condé Nast/Shutterstock
Arbus, born Diane Nemerov in 1923, was a New York City native who grew up on Central Park West. While she later lived downtown, she traversed the city and its parks with her Mamiyaflex, and shot some of her best-known work while holding court in Central Park, including "Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, 1962," which one photography expert called "one of the most significant photographic images in the history of fine art photography."
According to The Cut, some of her work here was done while also parenting: One of Arbus's daughters, Doon, "would later describe how she and her mother would dare each other to rush up to total strangers in Central Park and try to get a rise out of them."
The statue of Arbus coincides with Wearing's retrospective at the Guggenheim, Gillian Wearing: Wearing Masks, which is open until April 2022. The Arbus statue will be on display in Central Park a bit longer, however, through August 14th, 2022—you'll find it in Doris C. Freedman Plaza near 60th Street and 5th Avenue.
Tagged
female historical statues
statues
Diane Arbus
central park
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
'You Can See Everything' … as long as you go to Staten Island
Nathan Fielder’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary has been selling out across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Tickets to see the film, however, are very much available in other boroughs.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 27, 2026
Inside the hidden chamber that controls Lincoln Center's magnificent fountain
Gothamist went behind the scenes to learn how the NYC landmark keeps its majestic waters flowing.
By
Sonia Rao
Arts & Entertainment
Inside the hidden chamber that controls Lincoln Center's magnificent fountain
Gothamist went behind the scenes to learn how the NYC landmark keeps its majestic waters flowing.
By
Sonia Rao
In the algorithm age, NYC college radio DJs are still broadcasting the funky stuff
By
James Ramsay
A Queens prop shop shutters, bunnies find a home uptown, and more openings and closings
By
Hannah Frishberg
A new film invites you to eavesdrop on one of the greatest conversations in NYC history
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .