Buddha in the Park

As medical center employees and neighborhood residents enjoyed a sunny Friday afternoon in Mitchel Square Park last week, many were distracted by an unexpected addition to the park: a 9-foot-tall tarnished bronze Buddha sculpture with a gaping hole in its hollow torso where a man stood, planting grass.

Two men flanked the seated sculpture, holding a tarp. A woman stood back and supervised as a spectator snapped a cell-phone photo and others looked on with interest as they sat on benches or rocks nearby. The addition to the park, Hiroshima Buddha (2011), is by the Los Angeles-based artist Matt Johnson; it will remain in the park through February 2015.

The Buddha, a replica of a devotional sculpture that survived an atomic blast in Hiroshima, is the northernmost of 10 sculptures in Broadway Morey Boogie, an outdoor public-art installation curated by the Marlborough Chelsea gallery.

Produced in collaboration with the Broadway Mall Association and the New York City Parks Department, the installation displays the work of 10 contemporary American artists, in 10 distinct neighborhoods.

The gallery chose works that would be accessible and engaging to those on the street, and Mitchel Square Park was chosen for its location as a peaceful spot in the midst of a busy neighborhood.

"The site was scaled just right for the piece," said Patt Spengemann, director of Marlborough Chelsea. "It just felt right for a contemplative, meditative artwork. The fact that the park is surrounded by hospitals gives the work further resonance as a devotional object and a symbol of perseverance. I hope the parkgoers enjoy it!"

Among those who appreciated approachable art in the park were two young boys who cautiously walked up to inspect the statue, before realizing that nobody was going to stop them from touching it.

Join the official opening for Broadway Morey Boogie on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 11 a.m., at Verdi Square on 72nd Street and Broadway. View a map of all the artworks included in the installation.