The New York City High Line will soon be the perch of a massive, 16-foot tall pigeon statue, in a tribute to the birds that populate the city nearly as much as humans do.
Artist Iván Argote’s “Dinosaur,” is a “colossal, hyper-realistic sculpture of a pigeon cast in aluminum,” and will be mounted on a five-foot plinth atop the city’s popular elevated walkway, making the giant bird a total of 21 feet tall.
“Dinosaur” will be installed on the High Line at 10th Avenue and 30th Streets in October. The statue will be on display for 18 months.
“The meticulously hand-painted, humorous sculpture challenges the grandeur of traditional monuments celebrating significant historical figures, instead choosing to canonize the familiar New York City street bird,” the High Line’s website reads. “Posed on a concrete plinth that resembles the sidewalks and buildings that New York’s pigeons call home, Dinosaur reverses the typical power dynamic between bird and human, towering 21 feet above the Spur, over the countless pedestrians and car drivers that travel down 10th Avenue.”
Initially proposed for the High Line’s ongoing Plinth program in 2020, the sculpture received “polarizing” feedback as some felt ambivalent toward the towering pigeon. Now, it is the fourth commission for the 30th Street and 10th Avenue spot, following Simone Leigh’s “Brick House” (2019), Sam Durant’s “Untitled (drone)” (2021), and Pamela Rosenkranz’s “Old Tree” (2023).
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Argote lives and works in Paris, and is the first artist from South America and among the youngest to receive the High Line Plinth.
In regards to the meaning behind the art piece’s name, Argote notes, “The name Dinosaur makes reference to the sculpture’s scale and to the pigeon’s ancestors who millions of years ago dominated the globe, as we humans do today… the name also serves as a reference to the dinosaur’s extinction. Like them, one day we won’t be around anymore, but perhaps a remnant of humanity will live on—as pigeons do—in the dark corners and gaps of future worlds. I feel this sculpture could generate an uncanny feeling of attraction, seduction, and fear among the inhabitants of New York.”
