51st and 7th, 2024

51st and 7th, 2024, Concrete, metal and paint, 7 elements, each: ø 7 cm

Urbano’s staged realities are inhabited by vegetal and animal elements, that in close examination reveal themselves as intricate organic simulations.

51st and 7th is a new series of hand-painted trompe-l’oeil sculptures of apples, coupled together while seemingly left behind after an incomplete snack. These works were originals shown at SculptureCenter where dozens more apples (among other flora) were installed on and around a monumental work by the American artist Scott Burton, a major figure in sculpture and performance, who died of HIV- related illness in 1989. Burton, who referred to himself as “lunch artist,” is best known for his many artistic variations on chairs, benches, tables, and seating in public spaces. The series’ cross-street title refers to the office lobby site of a now-removed Burton bench in marble. Urbano’s half-bitten pairs of apples in concrete speak to Burton’s subtle interest in the human intimacy of the day-to-day, elegiacally trading one “Big Apple” for two small ones, alongside the often- imperceptible presence of Burton’s legacy in queer art histories today.