Grounds for Sculpture

American sculptor J. Seward Johnson wanted to make contemporary sculpture as an art form more accessible to the general public in an informal setting. The idea for a park, Grounds For Sculpture ("GFS"), was conceived and eventually opened in Hamilton in 1992. (Source: http://www.groundsforsculpture.org)

Gigantic sculptures dotted along the way from the Hamilton train station to GFS. 

The first sculpture I saw
(probably taller than the traffic lights)

Johnson, an artist turned sculptor, works on life-sized sculptures. One of his earlier works, King Lear, is in the park:

It is interesting to compare this sensitive, detailed piece to his newer works in the park. More recently, Johnson has begun to transform paintings by the Impressionists into 3D sculpture and add his own elements. "Were You Invited?" is perhaps one of his more popular works in the GFS. It is based on Renoir's Le déjeuner des canotiers (Luncheon of the boating party):

Renoir's Le déjeuner des canotiers
Source: The Phillips Collection

Johnson transformed the painting into sculpture next to a similar lake setting:

Notice that the painting ends waist up. Johnson added what may be going on below the table:

He also added himself and his sculptor friends into the "painting" - hence the title of the sculpture:

Johnson is the man in blue shirt facing us

It is quite a laugh. Visitors can touch and "mingle" with the sculptures. Have you noticed the real old lady among the sculptures in one of the photographs above? There is really no need to know the Impressionist painting in order to enjoy his works. 

Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (Luncheon on the Grass) had caused a big scandal and was rejected in The Salon. Johnson created the version and added a frog:

Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'herbe
Source: Musée d'Orsay

The park is littered with so many sculptures, sometimes it is difficult to tell if it is a real person or a sculpture:

Other times, the sculptures have to be closely examined:

Marisol's General Bronze

Inside the body of the horse in General Bronze, 
as seen from butt of horse 

There is also a sculpture where one can make music with by hitting the metal parts with metal drumsticks provided:

Zeus and Hera II

My favourite sculpture in GFS is Zeus and Hera II by Carole Feuerman. She was especially well-known for her detailed and life-like sculptures of swimmers. Her sculptures changed from life-like to more abstract when one of her sculptures fell on her hand and causing injuries and forcing her to change her sculpture technique. (Source: http://www.groundsforsculpture.org/c_cfeuer.htm?phpMyAdmin=rx8QRmkftsxKCJORMPMdrElzfme)

I like how the bronze and aluminium was used to fluidly created the sculpture. 

It was a brilliant day at the park, with no signs of fall approaching.

I walked back to the train station at the end of the day to view more of the sculptures along the road.

Tips for GFS:

- I took the NJ Transit to Hamilton train station and then a taxi ($10) to the park. The website does not mention this but NJ Transit bus 608 links the Hamilton train station to the park.

- On the way back, I walked from the park to the train station instead (so that I could look at the sculptures outside the park at my own pace). The walk took about 40 minutes (at a very slow pace). 

- The park is huge. New sculptures are added frequently and there are temporary exhibits in the halls. There is therefore really no need to follow the map and 'cover all exhibits' since there is probably no way of doing so. Just wonder around.

- Many sculptures are partially hidden. If you see a gap in the trees/ bamboos or a door which does not have a "no entry" sign, enter and a surprise may await you.