Dinosaur

Dinosaur (2024) is a large, hyper-realistic cast-aluminum sculpture of a feral pigeon (an example of a feathered dinosaur), by Colombian artist Iván Argote, installed since October 2024 at New York City’s High Line, to remain on display until the Spring of 2026. At 16 ft (4.9 metres) tall, the sculpture sits on a 5 ft (1.5 metres) concrete plinth located above 10th Avenue and 30th Street. As the fourth recipient of the High Line Plinth commission, Argote is the youngest artist to receive the Plinth commission and the first recipient from the Global South. The sculpture measures approximately 20 ft (6.1 metres) in length and weighs close to 910 kilograms (2, 000 pounds). With its large size and position above New York City’s streets, it intends to reverse the typical power dynamic between pigeon and human, celebrating a creature often considered a pest. Long concerned with challenging dominant political ideologies, Argote constructed Dinosaur to recast the idea of sculpture, a medium historically used to honor "great men, who all too often are neither honorable nor great." The sculpture was erected four years after its original proposal, in 2020, and has since become a prominent symbol of urban resilience and the oft-overlooked persistence of pigeons in man-made environments.

The High Line Plinth is a public art platform located on the Spur, the final section of New York City’s High Line park. Inaugurated in 2019 by Simone Leigh’s Brick House (2019), it is one of few public sites in the city exclusively dedicated to large-scale contemporary art commissions. With its rotating series of commissioned artworks, all remaining on display for 18-month periods, it provides a unique opportunity for artists to present massive works in an urban, hyper-visible setting. While preceded by similar public art forums—notably, the Fourth Plinth in London, which began displaying commissioned artworks in 2005—the High Line Plinth is uniquely integrated into an urban linear park, and designed specifically for the display of hulking contemporary sculptures. From its vantage point at the intersection of 10th Avenue and 30th Street, the Plinth is visible from a

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