GENTLE GIANTS Art Installation by Raphaele Cohen-Bacry to Open at Glendale Gas Station

Gentle Giants by Raphaele Cohen-Bacry is on display at the Adams Square Mini Park Gas Station from Monday, July 13 - Friday, October 2, 2026. Gentle Giants presents a gathering of tall, hand-formed characters who share the space with a calm, watchful presence.

Each giant stands as part of a loose “family,” connected not by a single story but by a shared spirit. Accompanying the giants are smaller, lighter forms – suggestive of birds – scattered throughout the gas station. Together, the figures and birds create a gentle ecosystem, one that feels alive but unhurried, inviting viewers to pause and take it in. Gentle Giants offers an experience rooted in reassurance and imagination. The exhibit invites children and adults alike to encounter scale with ease, to find friendliness in the unfamiliar, and to see how even the simplest materials can hold a sense of magic.

Gentle Giants is a suspended installation of collaged paper figures all created from black paper and painted fragments. Collage guides Cohen-Bacry's work as both technique and philosophy - embracing difference, reclaiming discarded materials, and building forms that feel vulnerable yet resilient.

An artist reception will be hosted by the Adams Square Neighborhood Association on Sunday, July 19, 2026, at 11:00 AM. Adams Square Mini Park Gas Station is located at 1020 E. Palmer Ave., Glendale, CA 91205.

Founded in 1907, the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department includes eight neighborhood libraries including the Brand Library & Art Center, a regional visual arts and music library and performance venue housed in the historic 1904 mansion of Glendale pioneer Leslie C. Brand, and the Central Library, a 93,000 square foot center for individuals and groups to convene, collaborate and create. The department also serves as the chief liaison to the Glendale Arts and Culture Commission which works to continually transform Glendale into an ever-evolving arts destination. Glendale Library Arts & Culture is supported in part through the efforts of the Glendale Library Arts & Culture Trust (GLACT).

For more information visit GlendaleLAC.org, or contact Library, Arts & Culture at 818-548-2021 or via email at LibraryInfo@glendaleca.gov.