"In God We Trust" Sculpture by Folkert de Jong at Lever House in NY, Feb. 2007

FOLKERT DE JONG: GOTT MIT UNS (IN GOD WE TRUST)
The Lever House Art Collection
390 Park Ave. at 54th St.
Through March 3
Admission: free
www.folkertdejong.com
publicartfund.org/pafweb/projects/06/morris/morris-06.html
www.leverhouse.com

Something crazy is going on inside the glass-encased Lever House lobby gallery on Park Ave. Dutch artist Folkert de Jong has installed “Gott Mit Uns (In God We Trust),” a graphic depiction of combat that is a sort of Gothic pop-art version of Otto Dix’s “War,” Max Beckmann’s “Hell,” and Francisco de Goya’s “Disasters of War.” Using styrofoam, polystyrene, polyurethane, silicone rubber, metal, and wood, de Jong presents a group of life-size, grotesque, seriously injured soldiers on a museum-style circular couch, each one oozing congealed yellow liquid. Also hurt and bleeding are re-created artworks by Constantin Brancusi, and Jean Arp, as war and destruction know no boundaries. Meanwhile, in the northeast corner, a decrepit figure directs and films the action, as if it’s all being orchestrated for entertainment purposes. In addition, in the back are huge Pez dispensers of Civil War commander in chief Abraham Lincoln as well as C3PO, Chewbacca, and Emperor Palpatine from the STAR WARS trilogy. “Gott Mit Uns” actually blends well with Sarah Morris’s colorful “Robert Towne,” which is still on the ceiling; what originally recalled city streets or L.A. freeways now brings to mind military grids.

Text from: timessquare.com/Blogs/This_Week_In_New_York/Ten_from_TWI-...