Philip Seymour Hoffman sculpture staying in Rochester; film series scheduled
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The memorial of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman is staying put at the George Eastman Museum.
The statue, erected in May, was originally scheduled to move to the Greenwich Village neighborhood in New York City this year where Hoffman lived. Instead, it will stay permanently outside of the Eastman Museum, and that decision will coincide with a film festival this year at the museum's Dryden Theatre honoring the Rochester-area native, an Oscar-winning actor.
The museum's board of directors recently unanimously voted to acquire the sculpture.
The sculpture, which captures Hoffman in stride, is perfect for the setting, said his mother, Marilyn O'Connor. He appears to be walking toward the Dryden. "Where else would he be going but to a movie?" O'Connor said.
O'Connor said she welcomes the decision to maintain the statue at the museum and hopes the work, along with the slate of films for 2023, brings attention to the Dryden.
"I really do feel like it is an undiscovered gem," she said.
The statue was commissioned by James Declan Tobin, a film producer who is friends with the Hoffman family. He contracted with Scottish sculptor David A. Anand, an award-winning artist who is a member of the London-based Royal Society of Sculptors.
"When we installed Philip’s sculpture at the Eastman Museum, I was invited to speak at the unveiling," Anand said in an email. "My medium is neither the written or spoken word and I knew I was at the front of a queue of extremely erudite thespians.
"So, I kept it brief. I said I thought my career had peaked when Sean Connery unveiled one piece by dragging the Scottish flag from a lady’s bust with his teeth," he wrote of the unveiling of his bust of Winnie Ewing, a historic figure in the Scottish independence movement.
"But then along came James Declan Tobin with his proposal and 'Bingo,' I really did peak. Working with James and Phil’s family was a wonderful evolutionary experience and I am immensely grateful for it. Now he is destined to remain there permanently. I am truly honored."
Dryden Theatre to host Philip Seymour Hoffman films
“A Tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman” is being curated by Jared Case, Eastman Museum’s curator of film exhibitions. The year-long series at the Dryden Theatre will chronicle Hoffman’s filmography, with an average of two screenings per month. Screenings begin at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $11 ($7 for members; $5 students with ID; and $5 ages 17 and under).
Films now scheduled for the Dryden are:
January 14 - Scent of a Woman
January 21 - Boogie Nights
February 3 - The Big Lebowski
February 17 - State and Main
March 11 - Flawless
March 24 - Magnolia
April 22 - Almost Famous
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Philip Seymour Hoffman statue to stay in Rochester NY
