In a clever riff on life imitating art, three figures positioned at the Fifth Avenue and 60th Street entrance to New York’s Central Park initially look like those familiar—make that tiresome—street performers who dress up and paint themselves to resemble statuary, often prompting double takes from passersby who mistake them for sculptures. But look yet again and, yes, these buskers really are statues. Titled Living Sculptures, the trio is the work of prankster German artist Christian Jankowski. Though such street performers are ubiquitous internationally, Jankowski based his—a Roman legionnaire, Che Guevara and a woman inspired by Dalí’s Anthropomorphic Cabinet—on performers he saw in Barcelona. Jankowski made casts of the performers to create the solid bronze sculptures, which have already made appearances in Barcelona, London and Berlin. Sponsored by the Public Art Fund, the New York installation is on view through April.
