A current exhibition at the venerable National Arts Club on Gramercy Park in New York demonstrates
the continuing influence of antiquity on the art of our time. Remnants of Rome features a group of
sculptures by artists Thomas Lollar and Ricardo Arango inspired by the hand mirrors used by ancient
Roman and Etruscan women—the reflective surfaces of which were made not of glass, but of highly
polished metal.
The sculptures—most of them disk-shaped forms affixed atop stands; all ranging from about two feet to
three feet in height—showcase Arango’s fluent and canny use of recycled steel as well as Lollar’s elegant
drawings, rendered in applied metal and depicting subjects that include mythological figures as well as
architectural glories of the classical era such as the Pantheon and the Aqueduct of Claudius.
The artworks were previously on view last year at the Venice Biennale and are available for purchase.
The exhibition ends on May 5, so visit soon. And if you ask very nicely perhaps a club member will use
the club’s key to take you into Gramercy Park—the only private park in the city.
National Arts Club 15 Gramercy Park South, New York. nationalartsclub.org
