Giant Pigeon Sculpture to Land at the High Line in New York
Created by Columbian artist Iván Argote.
A massive pigeon will perch onto the High Line in Downtown Manhattan. Well, a sculptural pigeon that is. The 16-foot-tall artwork is the brainchild of Columbian artist and filmmaker Iván Argote, whose dubbed the pudgy feathered bird Dinosaur.
Pigeons aren’t the most glorified bird in the animal kingdom, not like its distant cousins in the eagle and hawk. However, Argote’s totemic iteration will be hard to take your eyes off of as it makes its presence felt at one of New York City’s most frequented intersections. He just hopes it doesn’t cause any accidents as busy New Yorkers rush past Tenth Avenue at 30th Street.
As the unofficial mascot of New York, Argote sought to recontextualize the image of the pigeon, reflecting in an interview that he saw the bird as “something that people would react to in different ways. It’s a very iconic animal or entity, or icon of New York, and also still a marginal creature, living in dirty corners. You see a lot of people who live in the street or have to spend most of their lives in the street; they also get a sort of love or closeness with these pigeons. Sometimes the pigeons do very human stuff, like take the subway. So I think you can recognize yourself in them.”
Dinosaur is the latest sculptural artwork to join the High Line’s plinth activation, which in the past has included a fluorescent pink tree by Swiss visual artist Pamela Rosenkranz, as well as Brick House (2019) by American artist Simone Leigh.
Like a dinosaur, Argote’s sculptural counterpart represents a remnant of humanity that “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.” The artwork will open at the High Line in October and run through Spring 2026.
The High Line
New York, NY 10011
