Living statues, street performers who make themselves up with paint and costumes and then hold the same pose for 20, 40, or even 60 minutes, are not rare, but this one caught my attention. Perched on a pedestal on the Fifth Avenue sidewalk in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he looked like a statue. The illusion was helped by his unusually tiny stature. Then a young boy in the crowd approaches, breaking his concentration and pose and moving him to smile.
I was surprised to find an article about this man in the 11/14/2017 issue of the New York Times. His name is Johan Figueroa-González, a 35 year-old transplant from Puerto Rico who has been doing this for 10 years now.
www.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/nyregion/a-wall-hanging-stirs-...
"The performer’s attention to detail is impressive — the stony texture of his skin, the weathered look. But what is most striking — the performer’s greatest asset behind the illusion — is his size: too tall to be a dwarf, but much shorter than an average man. He stands 4-foot-11 and weighs 83 pounds."
In front of The Met, 93rd Street & Fifth Avenue, NYC -- July 31, 2023