The life-size human silhouettes appear tense, perched on the edges of high-rises, prepared to dive to their deaths below.
Passers-by point toward the sky, with perplexed expressions and mouths agape.
"What is that ... a man? No. What ... ?" Jessica Santana, a 20-year-old municipal worker, uttered to a friend Friday as they walked through Patriarca plaza, eyes fixed high above.
The 31 iron and fiberglass statues bolted atop several buildings are part of the first South American exhibit for British artist Antony Gormley, who has won many awards, among them the prestigious Turner Prize.
The sculptures, based on Gormley's own body, are burnt auburn in color, some with arms slightly bent, others ramrod straight. They appear to stare into the horizon, gazing at the endless sprawl of tall buildings in this city of 20 million people.
The exhibit, "Still Being," officially opens Saturday, runs through July 15 and will also appear in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. It includes other works shown in Sao Paulo's Banco do Brasil Cultural Center.
Gormley has spent four decades exploring the theme of the human body and how it relates to larger physical spaces around it, challenging spectators with showings that go well beyond a closed gallery.
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