Suozzi Unveils Installation of 25-Foot "American Gothic" Sculpture in Eisenhower Park

photo courtesy of Liz Smith

Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi on September 19 unveiled a 25-foot-tall sculpture in Eisenhower Park inspired by the iconic Grant Wood painting “American Gothic.” The sculpture was done by American realist J. Seward Johnson. Suozzi invited the temporary loan of the sculpture from The Sculpture Foundation, a nonprofit entity that encourages the placement of public art. It was installed in "Kite Field" near Parking Field 6 near the Veterans Memorial.

“I am very happy this remarkable sculpture is being installed in Eisenhower Park,” Suozzi said. “The man and woman farmers will be eerily familiar to most, since the piece was inspired by the implacable Iowa farmers we’ve grown accustomed to from the famous 1930 painting.”

At Eisenhower Park, a huge crane lifted the portions of the huge sculpture into the air and set them atop one another, beginning with the giant pants and skirt of the man and woman, followed by the torsos and then the heads.

Artist Seward Johnson has transformed the figures into a three-dimensional scene that towers over treetops and looms above pedestrians. The sculpture is part of a series by Johnson that takes artistic icons – images that have had a significant impact on American culture – and transforms these familiar images by making them larger and three-dimensional.

"One key purpose for public art is to initiate dialogue within communities,” said Sculpture Foundation director Paula Stoeke. “Seward Johnson’s work is provocative in its very presence, and should turn heads as well as start conversations.”

“I want to invite us all to ‘look back’ at these images and discover what we’ve learned since they first became icons to us, and how our understanding or point of view may have shifted since then,” said Johnson, the sculptor. “We accept them as icons, but as an artist I want to ask another question – such as, would they be embraced the same way if they came to us today? Would we view them with more cynicism or can we still see purity at this stage of our social maturity?”

For further information about the artist or the sculpture, contact Paula Stoeke, Director & Curator of The Sculpture Foundation, (310) 364-2400.

Eisenhower Park, at 930 acres the jewel of Nassau County’s parks system, is located in East Meadow. The park includes three outstanding 18-hole golf courses; a driving range; athletic fields and tennis courts; a fitness trail; picnic areas; miniature golf; a batting cage; playgrounds; the Veterans and 9/11 memorials; a world-class Aquatic Center; and summertime entertainment at the Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre.