After a long winter, we have been enjoying all the greenspace that the city has to offer in the July heat, so we of course had to stop by the High Line and take a look at the park’s ever evolving art collection. Strolling down the path of this iconic once-abandoned train track, we were lucky enough to stumble across Derek Fordjour’s newest public artwork, “ARCHETYPES.” The installation features stunning bronze sculptures of a burlesque dancer, a waiter, and a boxer. Through this collection of “archetypes,” Fordjour examines the ways in which labor, entertainment, and service are interlinked in Black communities across the country. The installation boldly asks viewers to question their own previous notions about these overlapping economies, illustrating how our associations with each archetype are more similar than we would assume.
“ARCHETYPES” by Derek Fordjour on the High Line
