Gillie and Marc Schattner, King Nyani, bronze, 102 x 276"

Giant Gorilla Sculpture
Visitors to the Bruce Museum can now encounter a nearly 5,000-pound, 23-foot-long and 8½-foot tall reclining gorilla. The world's largest bronze gorilla sculpture, King Nyani (Swahili for gorilla) offers visitors a unique interactive experience and raises awareness of the endangered species. Renowned public artists Gillie and Marc Schattner found inspiration for King Nyani on a trip to Uganda. During their visit, they were captivated by a male silverback gorilla’s kindness and compassion with his family. They vowed to rewrite the narrative of the violent, terrifying ape often conveyed in movies and acquaint people with the softer, gentler nature of these magnificent beasts. The artists rendered their friendly ape lying down on his side with his legs slightly pulled up and his right arm curled as if hugging a child. His open hand invites visitors to sit and feel both his strength and serenity.

Ryan Sullivan, Untitled, 2024, cast urethane resin, fiberglass, epoxy, © Ryan Sullivan. Photo by Ron Amstutz.

Ryan Sullivan solo show
BLUM, based in Tokyo, New York City and Los Angeles, is now representing New York-based artist Ryan Sullivan, along with the artist’s first solo show at the gallery. “Sullivan’s work commingles painting’s formal concerns and sculpture’s preoccupation with materiality,” the gallery notes. “Where traditional painting builds out from the canvas, covering or obscuring the gestures that preceded, Sullivan’s process functions in the inverse—the first layer of resin forms the work’s initial structure and, later, becomes the object’s face. Thin and flat, unlike any oil or acrylic on stretched canvas ever could be, these resin paintings—with their smooth, matte surface—flaunt the duality of their station, defying art’s conventionally divided medium specificities of painting and sculpture.” The exhibition will be on view through June 29.

Architectural rendering of the expanded campus. Courtesy Hennebery Eddy Architects and Vinci Hamp Architects.

Portland Art Museum Renovation
Portland Art Museum recently announced that its campus expansion and renovation project will open to the public in late 2025. The campus transformation will completely change the existing museum and create a vital “cultural commons” in the heart of downtown Portland, adding 95,000 square feet of new or upgraded public and gallery space. The project will also provide increased access to the Portland Art Museum’s exhibitions and programs, as well as new ways to experience its robust collection and new amenities that address the needs of more diverse audiences.

A sculpture by the late great Richard Hunt, known for his abstract metal art.

Harlem Sculpture Gardens
Harlem Sculpture Gardens in West Harlem, New York City, recently launched its first ever major art project: a large-scale sculpture exhibition spanning eight local public parks that will serve as the featured sites for this public art exhibition. Artists featured across the parks include Margaret Roleke, Miguel Otero Fuentes, Luke Schumacher, Carole Eisner,  Iliana Emilia Garcia, Sherwin Banfield and many others. The expansive exhibition is available to explore through October 30. The eight venues across the area are Morningside Park, St. Nicholas Park, Jackie Robinson Park, Montefiore Park, Historic Monuments Harriet Tubman Triangle, Frederick Douglass Circle, Roosevelt Triangle - Harlem Hybrid and the City College of New York Campus.

Jack Mendenhall, Pink Umbrellas, oil on wood panel, 23¾ x 31¾"

Summer Solstice
Louis K. Meisel Gallery in SoHo, New York, is currently hosting a group exhibition featuring a variety of paintings that evoke sentiments of the summer season. Paintings in the exhibition span subjects like beach scenes, cartons of fresh strawberries, picnics in lush green meadows, palm tree-lined hotels on a sunny day and more. Among the featured artists are Jack Mendenhall, Tom Blackwell, David Olivera, Anthony Brunelli and many others. Summer Solstice is on view through July 19. —