NEW YORK, N.Y..- High Line Art announces the third High Line Plinth commission: Old Tree, a 25-foot-tall sculpture in vivid pink and red, by artist Pamela Rosenkranz. Located on the park at West 30th Street and 10th Avenue, the Plinth, as a landmark destination for major public art, features a rotating program of new monumental commissions. Rosenkranz’s artwork will be installed on the High Line in Spring 2023 and will be on view through September 2024.
For the third High Line Plinth commission, Rosenkranz presents Old Tree, a bright red-and-pink sculpture that animates myriad historical archetypes wherein the tree of life connects heaven and earth. The tree's sanguine color resembles the branching systems of human organs, blood vessels, and tissue, inviting viewers to contemplate the indivisible connection between human and plant life. Old Tree evokes metaphors for the ancient wisdom of human evolution as well as a future in which the synthetic has become nature. On the High Line—a contemporary urban park built on a relic of industry—Old Tree raises questions about what is truly “artificial” or “natural” in our world. Made of man-made materials and standing at a height of 25 feet atop the Plinth, it provides a social space, creating shade while casting an ever-changing, luminous aura amid New York's changing seasons.
Pamela Rosenkranz creates sculptures, paintings, videos, and installations that reflect on the human need to anthropomorphize our surroundings in order to understand them. In doing so, she investigates the codes through which people give meaning to the natural world. Her projects center synthetic materials created in the image of nature: a swimming pool filled with viscous fluid, collections of mineral water bottles filled with silicone, or a kitchen faucet streaming water colored with E131 “sky blue” synthetic dye. Color is paramount for Rosenkranz, who employs fabricated colors intended to reflect unblemished and idealized nature. She elaborates on the condition of the body as a malleable system. Questioning the worldview that centers human beings, Rosenkranz addresses our relentless attempts to domesticate and tame the other living beings around us, as well as our own bodies.
The exhibition of Old Tree on the High Line will be activated by public programming around themes of botany and anthropology, with more details to be announced.
Old Tree’s installation precedes the opening of the Moynihan – High Line Connector later in Spring 2023. The location of the Plinth on the High Line’s Spur is adjacent to the forthcoming pathway that will lead pedestrians over 30th Street and Dyer Avenue towards Moynihan Train Hall.
HIGH LINE PLINTH
The High Line Plinth is the first space on the High Line—and one of the only sites in New York City—dedicated solely to new, monumental, contemporary art commissions. Artworks on the Plinth rotate every 18 months and are selected from proposals solicited from artists around the world. Rosenkranz’s work was selected from a shortlist of 12 artworks—narrowed down from 80 total submissions—proposed in 2020 for the third and fourth High Line Plinth commissions.
THE ARTIST
Pamela Rosenkranz (b. 1979, Uri, Switzerland) lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland. She has held solo exhibitions at institutions including Kunsthaus Bregenz (2021), Kreuzgang Fraumunster, Zurich (2018), GAMeC, Bergamo (2017), Fondazione Prada, Milan (2017), Kunsthalle Basel (2012), Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva (2010) and the Swiss Institute, Venice (2009). Rosenkranz has participated at several major international group exhibitions, including the Okayama Art Summit (2019) and the 15th Biennale de Lyon (2019). Her project Our Product was selected for the Swiss Pavilion at the 56th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale in 2015. Recent group shows were held at Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (2021), Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2021), Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah (2020), MMK – Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2019), Garage Museum for Contemporary Culture Moscow (2019), Musée National d´Art Moderne – Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2019), Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2018), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk (2017) and Museo Espacio, Aguascalientes (2016).
SUPPORT
Lead support for High Line Art comes from Amanda and Don Mullen. Major support for High Line Art is provided by Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons, The Brown Foundation, Inc., and Charina Endowment Fund. Project support for High Line Art is provided by Charlotte Feng Ford, Scintilla Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and Vivian and James Zelter. High Line Art is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council.
Major support for the High Line Plinth is provided by members of the High Line Plinth Committee and contemporary art leaders committed to realizing major commissions and engaging in the public success of the Plinth: Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons, Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros, Elizabeth Belfer, Suzanne Deal Booth, Fairfax Dorn, Steve Ells, Kerianne Flynn, Andy and Christine Hall, Hermine Riegerl Heller and David B. Heller, J. Tomilson and Janine Hill, The Holly Peterson Foundation, Annie Hubbard and Harvey Schwartz, Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins, Dorothy Lichtenstein, Amanda and Don Mullen, Douglas Oliver and Sherry Brous, Mario Palumbo and Stefan Gargiulo, Susan and Stephen Scherr, Susan and David Viniar, and Anonymous.
HIGH LINE ART
Founded in 2009, High Line Art commissions and produces a wide array of artwork, including site-specific commissions, exhibitions, performances, video programs, and a series of billboard interventions. Led by Cecilia Alemani, the Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art, and presented by the High Line, the art program invites artists to think of creative ways to engage with the unique architecture, history, and design of the park, and to foster a productive dialogue with the surrounding neighborhood and urban landscape.
THE HIGH LINE
The High Line is both a nonprofit organization and a public park on the West Side of Manhattan. Through our work with communities on and off the High Line, we’re devoted to reimagining public spaces to create connected, healthy neighborhoods and cities.
Built on a historic, elevated rail line, the High Line was always intended to be more than a park. You can walk through gardens, view art, experience a performance, enjoy food and beverage, or connect with friends and neighbors—all while enjoying a unique perspective of New York City.
Nearly 100% of our annual budget comes through donations. The High Line is owned by the City of New York and we operate under a license agreement with NYC Parks.
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