At Central Park's Doris C. Freedman Plaza in NYC, Camille Henrot Fills the Entrance with Dogs

At Doris C. Freedman Plaza, the entrance to Central Park at 60th Street and Fifth Avenue, French artist Camille Henrot has installed "Dogs," a group of large-scale dog sculptures. Presented by Public Art Fund, it is free, the plaza is open daily, and it runs through August 29, 2027.

The show features twelve sculptures. Building on an existing series, Henrot added new works in materials suited to the outdoors: bronze, stone, steel and concrete. The group includes a white dog of concrete, epoxy and mica, a white dog with a book on its back, and a negative image of a dog cut out of a steel sheet.

Each piece grew out of an accumulation of references, among them Saul Steinberg drawings, Tex Avery cartoons, ancient Egyptian sculpture and dog show competitions. Henrot's practice spans painting, drawing, film, installation and sculpture, and often examines the invisible codes and ties that bind people as individuals and as members of society. Her interest in attachment, dependency and domestication led her to dogs, highly social animals and loyal companions. The exhibition is also a celebration of sculptural craft and style, and of New York as a place of insistent individual expression.

Born in 1978, Henrot won the Silver Lion at the 2013 Venice Biennale for her film "Grosse Fatigue." She has had solo exhibitions at the New Museum, among other institutions, and her work is in the collections of MoMA and the Guggenheim. This is her first public exhibition in New York City. The show is curated by Public Art Fund Senior Curator Melanie Kress.

The plaza sits at the edge of the park, a convenient stop before or after a walk along Fifth Avenue.