Sarah Lucas unveils VENUS VICTORIA at New Museum plaza

The New Museum has launched a new series of public sculptures, beginning with Sarah Lucas's VENUS VICTORIA, a significant installation located in the museum's newly expanded outdoor plaza at Bowery and Prince Street. Unveiled on 12th May 2026, this piece will be displayed for a duration of two years and marks the first of five commissions over the next ten years focusing on women artists. An all-artist jury, which included Teresita Fernández, Joan Jonas, Julie Mehretu, Cindy Sherman, and Kiki Smith, chose Lucas for this project. VENUS VICTORIA, part of her ongoing Bunny series (1997–present), depicts a reclining figure on a large washing machine, challenging conventional monumental sculptures. This commission follows Lucas's 2018 exhibition Au Naturel at the New Museum, which later moved to the Hammer Museum in 2019. The work is curated by Massimiliano Gioni and Madeline Weisburg and is part of the museum's OMA-designed expansion on the Bowery.