The City As Art

A prominent contributor to the Pop Art movement in postwar America, George Segal is best known for placing life-size human sculptures in natural environments. "George Segal: Street Scenes", now displayed at the Norton Museum of Art, captures the melancholy and ironic isolationism associated with city life via ghostly white, plaster figures in front of graffitied walls and movie signs. It is the first exhibit to showcase the New York City artist’s examination of the urban landscape. In Diner, a man sits alone at the café counter drinking coffee, while a waitress fidgets with the coffee machine. Portraying a “quiet moment rippling with silent tensions,” the individuals, who are the only people in the restaurant, are close to each other, yet remain completely disconnected. In Cinema, a worker hangs the titles of movies under a bright orange sign that reads “Cinema”; the piece communicates the roles of the oft-overlooked labor that power a city.

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More About

• George Segal
• Norton Museum
• Norton Museum of Art
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media
• Visual Arts

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The exhibition opens Saturday at the Norton Museum, located at 1451 S. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach. General admission is $8. The exhibit runs through December 6. Call 561-832-5196, or visit norton.org.
Tuesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.; Fri., Sept. 11, 1 p.m. Starts: Sept. 8. Continues through Dec. 6, 2009