Contemporary Auras & That Figure in Times Square
Aura, in the context of cultural critic and media theorist Walter Benjamin’s work, refers to the unique, irreplaceable quality of a work of art tied to its place and time of creation, its “presence in time and space.” As a little girl I spent hours reading about art history thanks to my mother’s books. One of my favorite sculptures to look at was Michelangelo’s “Pietà” that shows the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Christ after his crucifixion, death, and removal from the cross. Mary is depicted as young to emphasize her divine purity and chastity. This, combined with the idealized beauty of Christ’s body, contributes to the overall ethereal quality of the work.
The 19th century art world saw a shift towards Romanticism and Realism in sculpture. Artists like Auguste Rodin and Edgar Degas focused on capturing the human form in a more natural and realistic way, often depicting everyday people and scenes. According to The Met, Degas’s original sculpture (below, left) was made of materials such as tinted beeswax skin, a human-hair wig, a cotton bodice, linen ballet slippers, and tarlatan tutu. Later versions were cast in bronze. When I was about the age of the subject I was taking ballet classes, so I felt a connection to the work.
As a teenager, I discovered the Harlem Renaissance, a movement centered in Harlem, New York City, from the 1920s to the mid-1930s. This included Augusta Savage, a sculptor who contributed by opening the first gallery dedicated to Black art, founding the Harlem Community Art Center, and mentoring numerous Black artists. In 1923 Savage became the focus of a scandal. She was among some 100 young American women selected to attend a summer program at Fontainebleau, outside Paris, but her application was subsequently refused by the French on the basis of her race. I did not learn about artists like Savage in school. I had to visit local libraries to see this work.
Stories like Savage’s made me more aware of the historical and systemic lack of representation of Black artists and art in the public sphere. As an art student I was shown many examples of Western and white American public artworks but few, if any, were by Black artists. During the summer before my high school senior year I visited the studio of Ed Hamilton who was working on a statue of Joe Louis. His most famous work is The Spirit of Freedom, a memorial to black Civil War veterans, stands in Washington, DC. Seeing Savage’s and Hamilton’s works inspired me to create my own clay-based works from high school through graduate school.
More recently, a 2022 bronze sculpture by Hank Willis Thomas that commemorates Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King was the target of a vicious debate. After “The Embrace” was installed on the Boston Common in Boston, MA it was criticized and mocked by social media users who deemed the sculpture “ugly”, and by others stating that the sculpture looked pornographic when viewed from specific angles. It should be noted that the King family and many from the local community fully supported Thomas’ piece. Kara Walker’s “A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby” is another example of a public art installation that triggered strong debates.
This work brings us to 2025, with the April installation of a 12-foot bronze sculpture titled “Grounded in the Stars” in New York City’s Times Square (see top image). The artist, Thomas J Price, is Black and British. The artwork depicts a fictional Black woman in casual attire that stands proudly at Broadway and 46th Street. According to the artist, “Grounded” seeks to “challenge traditional monument conventions by celebrating ordinary individuals rather than historical or political figures.” The sculpture is part of Price’s broader effort to diversify public spaces. His work is known for confronting preconceived notions of representation and identity, highlighting the unique worth of individuals.
Imagine making a statue that is usually designed to show greatness. — @eaglesfly1320
Michelangelo is rolling in his grave. — @shpaghettishpaghetti6219
It should be noted that there was backlash in Florence, Italy where Price installed his “Resilience of Scale” sculpture in the Piazza della Signoria. The goals of this work is to showcase the intrinsic value of individuals and draw attention to the psychological embodiment of fictional characters. Two young influencers, one Italian and one foreign, were caught attaching bananas with adhesive tape to the bronze sculpture. It has been referred to as a symbol of ‘woke’ ideology and cancel culture for challenging ‘classical’ art norms. Some claim it is an attack on Western civilization.
This behavior triggers memories of me as a high school student flipping through the pages of art history books and wondering if there were artists (and work) that looked like me (someone born and raised in the ‘West’). For centuries, artists that look like me have been pushing against the status quo in spite of the criticism. Regarding the Times Square installment, I read the following comment that someone thought was supportive,
I, for one, don’t have an issue with (the sculpture). Nor did I have issue with Aunt Jamima, Uncle Ben or lawn jockeys. I’m not so sure that Minnie from The Help would have been so funny if someone other than Octavia Spencer brought her to life. (Remember the “terrible awful”?)
I think this comment captures the most important or central point of the problem. Historically, everyday Black people (in this case women) are only relegated to specific roles in Western societies. The are not placed on pedestals and installed in public for all to see. When it actually does happen there is a strong and adverse reaction, revealing the ways in which art can either help maintain a status quo or break it. Of course, there is nothing wrong with putting the Virgin Mary or a little ballet dancer on a public pedestal but it is wrong to assume that these figures are the only ones worthy of public viewing and display.
Art is how we re-envision the world. Just take a look at the inventions of Kehinde Wiley… Artists can invent in the service of revealing a deeper truth. —Misha Rabinovich & Caitlin Foley, 2025
Some of my AI-generated artworks have been installed for public viewing by museums. The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) requested to use my portraits of Greg Tate and Faith Ringgold. Next week, more of my images will be installed by the SFO Museum in the San Francisco International Airport. GenAI art adds another layer to the ‘aura’ conversation. Misha Rabinovich & Caitlin Foley (2025) explore the role aura plays in AI-generated work. By problematizing the ‘new’, artists are addressing the problem of how viewers should engage with public art. The same applies to sculptures of Black people on view in public places.