Wim Delvoye Gothic: Caterpillar & Chantier

In Wim Delvoye’s Gothic, divine merges with secular, past meets present, and ornament overcomes strict functionality. In his life-size replicas of Caterpillar excavators, Delvoye (b. 1965, Wervik, Belgium) juxtaposes medieval craftsmanship with machine-age technology. These massive sculptures are made in Corten steel and perforated with gothic filigree, transforming familiar icons of productivity into ornate, nonutilitarian objects. Caterpillar will be on view at Doris C. Freedman Plaza and, at Madison Square Park, a second Caterpillar sculpture will be on view as part of Chantier, a full construction site of equally elegant Gothic equipment including shovels, a wheelbarrow, barricades, traffic cones, and a concrete mixer.