Pylons | Martin Puryear

If you find yourself sailing along on the Hudson River by the outskirts of the North Cove Marina by day or by night, you'd have to be blind to miss the Pylons. Sitting along the outskirts of the harbor, the Pylons flank and perfectly frame the Winter Garden when viewed from certain angles on the water.

Seen from the Esplanade side, the Pylons are a pair of hulking structures. Similar only in height and steel composition, the two structures are meant to be opposites of each other. One is wiry and airy with a rounded silhouette. The other is a sharp-edged, solid piece of impenetrable metal. According to the artist who created them, Martin Puryear, one is meant to be a literal mold-maker and the other is meant to be a figurative mold-breaker. When night falls, they share another commonality, as they are both illuminated to help mark the location of the harbor.

Puryear began his fine arts career studying in Sierra Leone, West Africa, attending both the Swedish Royal Academy of Art and Yale University. According to the artist the Pylons "are somewhere between sculpture, architecture and design. Although I'm primarily a sculptor, when I design something for use, I don't insist that it be called sculpture. If I'm asked to design a bench, I'm happy having it called a bench. I think that responding to function is a very high calling; it can help generate some wonderful forms."

You can reach the Pylons by heading west from the Winter Garden in the World Financial Center, or walking west towards the Hudson River at Vesey Street.

By Lizbeth