At The Armory Show – Dedicated to Coney Island by Tom Duncan. Mixed Media. 1984-2002 . Andrew Edlin Gallery
At the 100th Annual Armory Show, which opens today for invited guests at Piers 92 and 94 in Manhattan, the Andrew Edlin Gallery will be showing Tom Duncan’s kinetic sculpture “Dedicated to Coney Island” (1984-2002). Previously on extended loan to Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum, the 8’x 7.5’x 7′ kinetic sculpture combines real and imagined attractions, including a whirling Wonder Wheel and Loop-O-Plane, Steeplechase Funny Faces, sunbathers, a beached whale, and a moving subway train.
Duncan’s family moved from Scotland to New York City after World War II. His memories of hanging out in Coney Island as a teen inspired the intricately detailed piece. “At a time when a kind of cultural amnesia seems to be the order of the day, in which young people lack real experience with war, and in which the cultural richness of places like Coney Island are being replaced by the corporate aesthetic of Disney, Duncan’s work functions as an important record of the way the world once was,” says a press release about the artist’s work.
The Armory Show, March 7-10, Piers 92 & 94, Hudson River at W 55th Street, New York, NY. General Admission, $30. Students $10.
UPDATE March 21, 2013:
Video of “Tom Duncan: Dedicated to Coney Island / Andrew Edlin Gallery, Armory Show 2013” by Vernissage TV:
Related Posts on ATZ…
August 21, 2012: Art of the Day: Out of Disorder (Coney Island) by Takahiro Iwasaki
September 28, 2011: Rare & Vintage: Auction of French Fairground Art
September 17, 2011: Photography: Floating Above the Coney Island Boardwalk
October 4, 2009: The Wonder of Artist Philomena Marano’s Wonder Wheel
Amusing the Zillion 
I visited Tom’s studio in the mid 80’s and saw this fantastical piece in progress.
It is deliriously intricate and extremely well crafted. A must to see in person in order to discover the worlds within the worlds that he created in his Coney Island dedication.