Rubem Robierb, "Dream Machine: Dandara" (2019), at Tribeca Park
Taglialatella Galleries is honored to announce the installation of Rubem Robierb's large-scale sculpture Dream Machine, Dandara (2019) at Tribeca Park, NYC. This installation was made possible by NYC Arts in the Parks program which has been showing public art in city parks since 1967.
Dream Machine, Dandara pays tribute to Dandara, a transgender woman who was murdered in Forteleza, Brazil, in 2017.
"Imagine yourself between these wings, close your eyes, and make a wish! See yourself traveling to the place your dreams will come true! I named this sculpture after Dandara, a trans woman killed by violence, who along with others from the LGBTQ community, dreamed to be treated with dignity and respect. The odds are stacked against us dreamers and only courage and determination can free us to create, reinvent and express our inner self. This is a monument to the dreamers, the ones who live and die making the impossible happen."
— Rubem Robierb
Dream Machine, Dandara is on display through May 4, 2020 at Tribeca Parks on West Broadway and Avenue of the Americas. Robierb's paintings, prints and smaller scale sculptures are on view at Taglialatella Galleries NYC location: 229 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011.
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ABC7 NEWS NY - November 4, 2019
Sculpture honoring transgender community unveiled at New York City park
Tribeca, MANHATTAN (WABC) -- A 10-foot tall sculpture dedicated to the Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Community (GNC) was unveiled Monday at Tribeca Park in Manhattan.
Internationally known visual artist Rubem Robierb is the creator of the sculpture "Dandara," which is named after the 42-year-old transgender woman who was brutally attacked and murdered in Forteleza, Brazil, in 2017.
Robierb's "Dream Machine" sculpture was proclaimed the most photographed and Instagrammed artwork on Celebrity Cruise Lines' first billion-dollar cruise ship. He names his "Dream Machine" sculptures after someone forgotten or famous who lived/died fighting for their own dreams, or for the dream of others.
"In tribute to the strength and bravery of the Trans GNC Community, Dandara has an important message and meaning," Robierb said. "And I felt that New York City was a place to showcase this on a public scale."
In 2019, according to the Human Rights Campaign, over 26 murders have been recorded in the United States. As the final title card from Pose FX Season 2, Episode 4 says, "More than 1,000 transgender and gender-nonconforming people have been murdered across the globe since 2016."
Within the 10-foot high pearl white sculptured fiberglass wings, spanning 13 feet long by 4 feet wide fixed on a steel and concrete base, there is a spot for the viewer to place themselves between the butterfly wings. The Dream Machine was designed for the public to interact with the sculpture.
The sculpture will be on display at Tribeca Park (W. Broadway & 6th Avenue) from Nov. 4, 2019 - May 4, 2020.
Robierb is married to our own weather anchor Sam Champion. Both of them have been activists for equal marriage, actively support the LGBTQ Task Force, HRC, GLAAD and Point Foundation LGBT, among many others.
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FORBES - November 5, 2019
This Artist Is Honoring The Transgender Community By Giving New Yorkers Wings
Dawn Ellis, Contributor
It took me 3 hours to get there, and 4 hours to get home, but it was so worth it. After all, it’s not everyday a girl like me gets her wings.
On Monday, I traveled from Hartford to Tribeca Park in New York City’s Lower Manhattan, for the unveiling of a public sculpture by international artist Rubem Robierb. But this wasn’t just any art display.
The 10-foot-high, 13-foot-wide, pearl white pair of fiberglass wings stand atop a steel and concrete base. The broad, sturdy structure is intricate and eye-catching. Robierb said he dedicated this latest sculpture to the transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary community “in tribute to its strength and bravery.” This is the latest in his series of “Dream Machine” interactive sculptures installed at a hotel and aboard a cruise ship. The public is not expected to stand back and simply admire his work, he said, but to take part in it.
“Place yourself between the wings, close your eyes and make a wish,” said Robierb. “Imagine yourself traveling to the place where your dreams will come true. This is a monument to the dreamers, for we are the ones who live and die making the impossible happen.”
Robierb was joined by friends, supporters, artists, gallery owners, social media influencers and everyday folks, many of them members of the LGBTQ community. A local TV reporter and photojournalists hovered about, as we all took turns posing in front of those beautiful white wings.
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Miss Peppermint and Rubem Robierb pose for a photo as Rubem Robierb unveils a new sculpture dedicated to the transgender GNC community In NYC's Tribeca Park, in Partnership with Mastercard on November 04, 2019 in New York City. (Nov. 3, 2019 - Source: Getty Images North America)
Huffpost - November 5, 2019
Artist Honors Murdered Transgender Woman With Stunning Butterfly Wings
Curtis M. Wong
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” veteran Peppermint and the ABC News’ Sam Champion were among the notables on hand to witness Monday’s unveiling of a breathtaking sculpture honoring the transgender and gender-nonconforming (GNC) community in New York.
Titled “Dandara,” the fiberglass sculpture resembles a pair of butterfly wings and will be displayed through May 4, 2020, in Manhattan’s Tribeca Park. The sculpture, which measures 13 feet long and 10 feet high, was created by Brazilian artist Rubem Robierb as part of his “Dream Machine” series, honoring those who have “lived or died fighting for their own dreams, or for the dream of others.”
“In tribute to the strength and bravery of the trans and GNC community, ‘Dandara’ has an important message and meaning,” Robierb, who has been married to Champion since 2012, told ABC. “I felt that New York City was a place to showcase this on a public scale.”
The sculpture takes its name from Dandara dos Santos, a transgender Brazilian woman who was beaten and killed in 2017. Brazil is considered to be one of the world’s most dangerous places for transgender people. Last year, the advocacy group Transgender Europe found 125 trans people in Brazil had been killed between January and the end of September, a global high.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 22 transgender or gender-nonconforming people have been killed so far this year in the U.S. Though it’s impossible to know an exact count, advocates tracked the killings of at least 26 trans and gender-nonconforming people in 2018.
The installation and ceremony were presented by Mastercard, which also donated $5,000 to GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program in honor of the occasion. Speaking at Monday’s event, Peppermint said she was “so happy to be able to go back and redeem [dos Santos’] story,” as seen in video footage of the event posted on social media.
“Hopefully,” she added, “this will be the beginning of other queer people, trans people, trans young girls, and gender-nonconforming people, to have a space where they can come, and know that their dreams can be realized.”
In an emotional essay for Forbes, journalist Dawn Ennis said the “Dandara” unveiling was “a perfect way for us to kick off November,” which happens to be Transgender Awareness Month.
“Even though they were detached from my body, these wings lovingly crafted by Robierb’s hands felt as much a part of me in that moment as my own arms and legs,” said Ennis, who is trans. “They were mine, as much as the changes I’ve made to conform my body to match my authentic gender identity.”
“To my mind, they fit me better than anything I’ve ever worn,” she added.
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