Montclair artist's sculptures at World Trade Center are among first since 9/11
A massive sculpture called "XO World," installed last fall in front of lower Manhattan's Freedom Tower, marked a turning point for the World Trade Center site. The huge blue globe (the "O"), next to two giant crossed arms (the "X"), is one of the first pieces of public art on the site since the attack on the twin towers 20 years ago.
The 12-by-24-foot artwork, along with a companion piece inside the Oculus depicting four multi-racial children playing a game of jacks, titled "XO Play," has inspired countless Instagram selfies of tourists crossing their arms on their chests in front of the sculptures, sign language for "love" (#xoworldproject).
The giant artwork also marked a turning point for Montclair artist Daniel Anderson, who, until "XO World," was known among private collectors for his oil paintings with a sculptural, or 3D, component. He hadn't done anything on this scale before.
Anderson, 42, who grew up on Packanack Lake in Wayne and moved to Montclair in 2016, got the idea for "XO World" in September 2020, while the pandemic raged. "There was COVID, and so much racial and political tension across the country and globe," he said. "I wanted people to experience a message of positivity and peace, and rally behind it."
He set the lofty goal of having the sculptures installed a year later — near the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and on the 40th anniversary of World Peace Day — and began campaigning for his vision.
He started with The Durst Organization, the real estate firm that developed the World Trade Center site after the twin towers fell, and Kevin O'Toole, chairman of the board of commissioners for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a former state senator for the 40th District. Both were supportive and helped get the ball rolling.
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But that was just the beginning of a process that Anderson said tested even him, an artist accustomed to rejection.
Because the land is co-owned by the Port Authority and New York state, he said, "You have to go through a lot of levels. There's so much paperwork, permits and insurance. It was exhausting; so many long phone calls and presentations."
Ultimately, though, his persistence paid off. The sculptures were installed on World Peace Day, Sept. 21, 2021, an impossibly short timeline from Durst's approval eight months earlier.
The two artworks, which were commissioned by The Durst Organization, are scheduled to remain at the World Trade Center for two years from installation.
Meanwhile, Anderson is looking to create and install "XO World" sculptures in "signature cities around the globe" through his new XO World Project Foundation, beginning with Chicago and Miami.
"I'm very grateful that this piece, with its message of equality, unity, peace and love, has been unanimously loved and embraced, and is bringing everyone together at this landmark site at the epicenter of the globe," he said.
"The chances it would be completed were so slim, but I felt a higher purpose guiding me on sleepless nights," Anderson said. "I swam up the Nile and never got bitten by alligators."
Julia Martin is the 2021 recipient of the New Jersey Society for Professional Journalists' David Carr award for her coverage of Montclair for NorthJersey.com.
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Email: jmartin@gannettnj.com
Twitter: @TheWriteJulia
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ artist designs first sculptures at the WTC since 9/11
