Exhibition - Zaq Landsberg: Reclining Liberty

Reclining Liberty takes inspiration from the giant reclining Buddha statues of Asia, which represent the Buddha in one stage on the path to enlightenment and are a theme throughout Buddhist art. By merging the traditional Buddhist reclining pose and the quintessential American figurative symbol, Reclining Liberty asks the viewer to contemplate the status of the ideals the Statue of Liberty represents. Welcoming public engagement and interactivity, the work’s playfulness and accessibility suggest that these ideals of liberty and freedom are active, tangible, and evolving and need to be directly engaged with, debated, and defended.

Reclining Liberty was originally installed in Morningside Park in Manhattan in April of 2021 and quickly became a neighborhood landmark and a popular spot for formal and impromptu public gatherings. In May of 2022, the work was relocated to Liberty State Park, where it greeted visitors boarding the ferries to Liberty Island. MoCA Arlington and Arlington Public Art are excited to co-sponsor the work’s first appearance outside of New York and New Jersey. The work’s yearlong residency at MoCA Arlington will be accompanied by a series of public programs, to be announced at a later date.

Zaq Landsberg was born in Los Angeles, California and is currently based in New York City. His public artworks and large-scale sculptures have been installed throughout the United States and internationally including at Morningside Park (Harlem, NYC), Liberty State Park (Jersey City, NJ), Green-Wood Cemetery (Brooklyn, NYC), La Ene (Buenos Aires, Argentina), CUAC (Salt Lake City, UT), the Figment Festival (Governor’s Island, NY), Socrates Sculpture Park (Queens, NYC), Franconia Sculpture Park (Shafer, MN) and others. He created new works for Flushing Meadows Corona Park (Queens, NY) through the Art in the Parks: UNIQLO Park Expressions Grant and in Fort Tryon Park (New York, NY) through the New York City Parks’ Clare Weiss Emerging Artist Award. Landsberg’s work has been covered in more than 40 countries and 27 languages, including by The New York Times, artnet news, NY Magazine, Time Out NY, Vice, NY Daily News, The Believer, PEOPLE Magazine, Clarín (Argentina), ARTE (France), Blouin Art Info, Gothamist, KSL Salt Lake City, WGN Radio, and The Daily Mail, among others.

The creation and previous presentations of Reclining Liberty were supported by the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation (UMEZ), Friends of Morningside Park, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Zaqistan Arts Council, and Andrew Logan Projects. with additional support from Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, Exchange Place Alliance, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The presentation of Reclining Liberty at Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington is organized by Blair Murphy, curator of exhibitions, MoCA Arlington and co-sponsored by Arlington Public Art.