New York City can be called a lot of things. NYC. The Big Apple. The City That Never Sleeps. Renowned “Pop Art” innovator George Segal simply called it and its people his muse.

“He loved to go to neighborhoods where life kind of spilled out into the streets,” says Leesa Fanning, associate curator of modern and contemporary art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. “He wanted to express what it was like to live in a city.”

And Segal, a sculptor and painter, chose a pretty unique way to do it, which you can see for yourself in “George Segal: Street Scenes” at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art through Aug. 2.

Segal (1924-2000) started out as a painter but came to prominence in the art world in the 1960s. While living in New Brunswick, N.J., Segal developed an innovative sculpting technique using plaster bandages to create life-sized body casts of human figures that he would then place in constructions to resemble everyday urban environments ranging from Dumpsters to diners.

“They are sitting, they’re standing, they’re walking, they’re really sharing our space,” Fanning says. “Which just confirms just this shared moment with the sculpture. They’re really rooted in daily life.”

Of the 13 pieces on display in “George Segal: Street Scenes,” many of them show casts of ordinary people in close quarters and public settings lost in their own thoughts despite those around them. This is especially evident in one of Segal’s sculptures that takes place inside a public bus.

“There’s also a potential for a sense of isolation,” Fanning says. “You maintain your own psychological space, and you’ll really see that in these sculptures.”

And in every aspect of these creations, Segal’s signature is evident, from the exaggerated poses to the designs of the settings. But an unwritten tale also is presented through his figures’ expressions and postures — one that Segal has left for others to finish.

“Segal’s work tends to tell narrative, but the narrative remains ambiguous,” Fanning says. “It’s up to the viewer to complete the story.”

– Blake Hannon | Stjoelive staff