Private Air New York Magazine
Issue link: https://privateair.uberflip.com/i/1231008
www.privateairny.com Private Air | Spring 2020 60 In the early years of Antar's artistic practice, she heavily focused on abstraction in both her paintings and sculptures, which heavily evolved around her lack of depth perception. After years of creating abstract works inspired by American popular culture, Antar turned to realism. Her "Realism in Stone" series quickly gained notoriety and caught the eye of corporate giants. She began to receive commissions to carve stone replicas of products creating works for an array of companies from Stella Artois to Skechers. Dubbed "Brooklyn's answer to Andy Warhol," compared to Claes Oldenburg and Jeff Koons, Antar brings Pop art to stone. rough her distinct brand of hyperrealism, she creates stone monuments of contemporary American culture through everyday items, such as a bottle of Heinz Ketchup, a hamburger with fries, and a giant hot dog on a bun with a bite taken out of it. One of her more powerful works is her response to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in Manhattan. e 800-pound white marble sculpture depicts a crushed bag with many colorful M&M candies spilling out of it. Most recently, the artist has begun a series of work representing America's current political environment. Included is an enormous replica of the white "Make America Great Again" golf cap Donald Trump wore on the 2016 campaign trail. It aroused so much controversy on social media that she decided to remove photos of the artwork from her website and social media for several months. Currently, she is fine tuning a four-foot-high marble and granite sculpture of "e U.S. Constitution in a Knot" for the series. e thought-provoking piece, set to be completed any day now, will accompany the MAGA campaign hat and a pair of boxing gloves with the title "Win the Fight," in an upcoming exhibition. It aims to be a rallying cry for both sides of today's political spectrum. Based on the response from "Make America Great Again," I can guarantee you the exhibition will be one for the record books. ABOVE, FROM LEFT: Heinz Ketchup by Robin Antar Robin Antar working on her newest sculpture, U.S. Constitution in a Knot North Tower 9/11 by Robin Antar ART