About the Exhibition
Lamppost by Mark Handforth (b.1969, Hong Kong, China) is a massive industrial streetlight – originally 45 feet tall – that is folded in two places so it rests on the ground, leaning on its five-point crown of red glowing lights. It is Handforth’s first outdoor work in his singular series of twisted lamppost sculptures. Installed at the southeast entrance to Central Park, it retains a small part of its original function – lighting a public space – but does so in a way that is at once dramatic and humorous. The large features of the grounded lamp seem absurd, almost surreal, and Handforth’s use of red light bulbs, replacing the standard yellow sodium bulbs, produces an ethereal glow on Doris C. Freedman Plaza.