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| Gabriel Koren |
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El-Hajj Malik Shabazz, Malcolm X
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Completion Date:
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1997
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Medium:
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Bronze Sculpture
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Dimensions:
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76" x 35" x 38"
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Location:
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Audubon Ballroom
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Address:
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3940 Broadway, Manhattan
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Architect:
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Davis, Brody, Bond
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Sponsor Agency:
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Economic Development Corporation
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Design Agency:
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n/a
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Art Commission Award for Excellence in Design, 1996
The focus of Gabriel Koren's career has been to sculpt the leaders, artists, thinkers, and other members of the African diaspora whose lives and work have impacted contemporary life on national and international levels. Gabriel Koren was commissioned to create the first public sculpture of Malcolm X in New York City. The artist has created a life-sized, bronze sculpture of Malcolm X positioned to look as if he is speaking to the people visiting the ballroom.
About the Artist...
Born in Hungary, Gabriel Koren received her M.F.A. at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest. She has been included in solo and group exhibitions at Richard Anderson Gallery, the Hungarian Consulate General, Hudson Guild Art Gallery, Alan Stone Gallery, and the Queens Borough Public Library. She taught sculpture at the National Academy of Design, and was awarded grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts in 1997.
Artist Quote...
This commission was the greatest honor and the greatest responsibility I have received in all of my life. My goal was to create a sculpture of Malcolm X which would be recognized by Malcolm's community as a true representation of him. I felt I was an instrument bringing Malcolm's message forward again through the sculpture. I felt the responsibility to bring him back to the Audubon Ballroom, as if he never left. I am not religious, but I prayed before I started the work, and I prayed when I finished the work. -- Koren, 1997
