Less than a block from Madison Square Park—a beloved oasis of green space, dog runs, Shake Shack, and a stone’s throw from the tony stores that line Madison Avenue—is the courthouse of the Appeals Division, First Department of New York City, a functioning law and order building. On the roof of the courthouse, nine sculptures of historical men including Confucius, Justinian, King Louis IV and Moses stand at attention, representing justice and virtue. Now they are finally joined by a female figure.
Artist Shahzia Sikander’s first major outdoor project”Havah… to breathe, air, life“, comprised of two sculptures and an AR activation, is now installed in both Madison Square Park and the Courthouse, featuring large female figures representing power, justice and equality.
Although the image of justice has traditionally been depicted as a blindfolded woman holding scales to indicate the fairness of the system, in Sikander’s rendering the forms stand with their eyes wide open. The figures each wear decorative collars or jabots, made famous by the late Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wore lace and jeweled accessories with her black robes.
Sikander has spent much of her career focusing on traditional manuscripts from Iran and India, although most of these original works were not available to her as a student in Pakistan. In a exclusive interview as part of Art21 Extended game series, Sikander reflects on how this early experience and legacy of colonialism continues to affect art history.
Production of the Extended Play film, “Shahzia Sikander: Melting Boundaries”. © Art21, Inc. 2023.
“Erasure. Lack of visibility. These things are at the heart of my relationship with art. she explainedadding that for the public art commission, she was drawn to the idea of ”what monuments could represent”.
The notion of erasure is present in the United States justice system, with very few women serving on the Supreme Court and recent bouts of legislation eroding women’s reproductive rights. In addition to nodding to Ginsburg’s sartorial flair, the courthouse sculpture wears a skirt inspired by its stained-glass ceiling, symbolically representing the shattered glass ceiling of female empowerment and success.
“Every time we create art and put something out into the world, I think it pushes the boundaries of who can be represented a little bit further,” Sikander said in the video. “These things are really integral to how art can then negotiate a space for a future generation.”
Watch the video, which originally appeared as part of Art21’s series extended play, below. “Shahzia Sikander: Havah… to breathe, air, lifeis on view until June 4, 2023.
This is an episode of “Art on Video”, a collaboration between Artnet News and Art21 that brings you clips from artists who are making the news. A new season of the flagship series of the Art21 association Art in the 21st century is now available on PBS. Watch all episodes of other series, like New York close up And Extended gameand learn about the organization’s educational programs at Art21.org.
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