East River Park has always been a beautiful public site for both tourists and the residents of New York City alike. However, as of June 26^th this year, East River Park has become the home of even more beauty. Now, up until the beginning of November, one can visit the East River Park Promenade and take in the beauty of Lina and Gus Ocamposilva’s 12-feet tall Dancers of the Wind sculptures. These abstract sculptures represent the natural beauty and grace of the human body, as expressed through ballet.

Gus and Lina Ocamposilva are husband and wife, and have been working together on various pieces of public art for about fifteen years now. The Ocamposilva spouses are both Latin-American artists hailing from Columbia, who have obtained enormous respect in North America. They have been awarded over thirty public art exhibitions throughout various North American cities, and have won many awards and honors over the course of their partnership. The pair is recognized by their extremely unique style of bending and transforming hard aluminum into life-like and abstract images, giving the illusion of softness. Their art includes very unique styles of balance, the use of empty spaces, and bright coloring to bring a vibrant and alive feel to their art. Their mission is to demonstrate the naturalness and liveliness of all of their subjects, as well as capture the ideas behind individualism and the human spirit.

The Dancers of the Wind exhibition displays three 12-feet tall sculptures of abstract art, depicting the grace and beauty of ballet. Classical ballet steps and styles, such as the grand jete, adagio and arabesque, are what inspired these site-specific sculptures. Whereas all three sculptures have a similar theme of dance and grace, and even seem to imitate the others’ actions, each dancer is extremely unique. The bright contrasts between the yellow, red, blue, and teal colors show a sense of individuality between each dancer. However, the contrast can also be found within each individual sculpture, showing the personalized features of the soul. Gus and Lina Ocamposilva are true believers in the expression of the individual, and believe in the uniqueness of everyone.

The reasons for these sculptures being displayed at this site, and during this time period, truly demonstrate the idea of site-specific art; that is, there are particular reasons that make this location and time the ideal situation for these sculptures. The East River Park is a common place for people to visit during the warmer months of the year, and is famous for its breathtaking view of the East River, as well as its incredibly strong winds. The gust from the river to the park is demonstrated clearly in each sculpture by the positioning and direction of the “ribbons” on the dancers’ feet. However, the idea of Dancers of the Wind implies that these dancers are not simply performing in the wind, but are of the wind. That is to say, the abstract manner in which these sculptures were created is meant to symbolize the intangibility of wind, and how it correlates to the human spirit. Individuality and spirituality is a very abstract concept; there are no clear-cut answers to questions pertaining to the soul. This idea is displayed through the abstractness and contrast within each dancer, and how each is similar while remaining totally individualized.

East River Park is the ideal place for this public art to be displayed, being both easily accessible, and surrounded by the concepts that help define the sculptures.