NEW YORK, NY.- Rockefeller Center and
Art Production Fund are now presenting A Tale of Ancestral Memories, featuring never seen before work by interdisciplinary artist DOMINIQUE FUNG throughout the Rockefeller Center campus, which opened August 7th.
Dominique Fung is a second-generation Chinese-Canadian artist whose practice explores the liminal territory in which tradition, memory, and legacy seep through our collective subconsciousness. Through her interest in casting light on overlooked or forgotten stories and her use of specific historical artifacts, she infuses with living qualities and complex non-linear narrative paths, she models a new, broader, alternative space of belonging.
As a focal point of her Art in Focus commission for Art Production Fund and Rockefeller Center, Dominique Fung imagined an all-encompassing yet open-ended epic odyssey. Located at the Rink Level of 45 Rockefeller Plaza, traditionally painted scrolls unfold to tell a story otherwise ungraspable as a whole. Spanning 125ft in length and created in the studio as a single multi-panel painting at ⅔ scale, the scene creates a connection between the palpable physical place in which it lives and the ethereal subconscious plane it unfolds for its viewer. Instilled with life, artifacts from the Shang and Tang Dynasties meet Ama women and quaint fishing figures in abstracted landscapes of seashell flowers, tree corals, and wide-casting nets.
The vitrine spaces at 45 Rockefeller Plaza showcase three sculptural installations. Interwoven within the artworks are recurring motifs of flora and persistent thematic elements central to Fung's artistic explorations. These elements collectively narrate a tale of voyaging through uncharted territories, from the depths of an ocean dark as the night, through troubled waters washing softly onto the shores of a land of infinite possibilities.
Expanding from the vitrines, a curated selection of recent paintings by the artist can be viewed at 10 Rockefeller Plaza, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, and Radio Park. As part of Art Production Fund's Art Sundae program, which aims to build confidence in children through art, the artist will also host a free workshop, collaborating with participants to create an installation to be presented at the 10 Rockefeller Plaza window.
“This is definitely my most ambitious project so far. I’ve always had ideas for bigger public pieces but being able to execute my first public art commission in the context of the Rockefeller Center, with the help and support of Art Production Fund and Tishman Speyer, has been incredibly special. I’m excited to have the ability to show my work in such a broad public setting and have it reach new audiences.” – DOMINIQUE FUNG
“It’s an honor to present Dominique Fung’s site-specific work at Rockefeller Center. In addition to sculptural elements featuring cages of resin fish created for the 45 Rockefeller vitrines, the exhibition offers visitors a first view of Dominique’s latest large scale painting. With imagery ranging from fishing boat seascapes to views beneath the water, the dreamlike story unfolds as viewers walk along the space, offering a unique experience of the iconic location.” – CASEY FREMONT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ART PRODUCTION FUND
“We are delighted that Dominique Fung is bringing her gifts to the Center, creating work for extraordinary spaces throughout campus. New Yorkers and visitors come to Rockefeller Center every day to work, dine, play, and seek out unique experiences, and they’re sure to be enthralled by Dominique’s incredible works. We are honored to welcome her to the Center’s community of artists.” – EB KELLY, HEAD OF ROCKEFELLER CENTER AND SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR AT TISHMAN SPEYER
DOMINIQUE FUNG (b. 1987, Ottawa, Canada) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She received a BAA from Sheridan College Institute of Technology in Toronto, Canada. Fung's artistic practice involves crafting paintings that possess lush textures, profound conceptual foundations, and captivating personal dimensions. The artist’s work can be found in prestigious collections, including but not limited to, The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas; and Cantor Art Center of Stanford University, Palo Alto. Recent exhibitions include MATERNITY LEAVE: NONE OF WOMEN BORN, Nicodim in collaboration with the Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas (2023); Objects for Comfort in the Afterlife, Pond Society, Shanghai (2022, solo); Crossing, Kotaro Nukaga, Roppongi (2022); In Bloom, Massimo De Carlo Pièce Unique, Paris (2022); Wonder Women, curated by Kathy Huang, Jeffrey Deitch, New York and Los Angeles (2022); and Luncheon on the Grass, Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles (2022).
ART IN FOCUS is a multidisciplinary program that showcases installations by contemporary artists inspired by the New York City landscape and contemporary life. Artists featured in the series will have their work displayed in a number of prominent and unexpected public locations throughout Rockefeller Center. Art in Focus is presented in partnership with Rockefeller Center and Art Production Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences, and expanding awareness through contemporary art. Past Art in Focus artists include Joana Avillez, Hein Koh, Portia Munson, LaKela Brown, Lucy Sparrow, Angelica Hicks, Vanessa German, Ryan Flores, Genevieve Gaignard, Oliver Jeffers, Hiba Schahbaz, Sanford Biggers, Hilary Pecis, Maurice Harris, Lisa Congdon, Max Colby, Hugo McCloud, Emily Mullin, Arghavan Khosravi, Lorraine Nam, Joel Gaitan and most recently Basil Kincaid.
ABOUT TISHMAN SPEYER (tishmanspeyer.com): Tishman Speyer is a leading owner, developer, operator and investment manager of first-class real estate in 36 key markets across the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Our portfolio spans market rate and affordable residential communities, premier office properties and retail spaces, industrial facilities, and mixed-use campuses. We create state-of-the-art life science centers through our Breakthrough Properties joint venture, and foster innovation through our strategic proptech investments. With global vision, on-the-ground expertise and a personalized approach, we are unparalleled in our ability to foster innovation, quickly adapt to global and local trends and proactively anticipate our customers’ evolving needs. By focusing on health and wellness, enlightened placemaking and customer-focused initiatives such as our tenant amenities platform, ZO, and our flexible space and co-working brand, Studio, we tend not just to our physical buildings, but to the people who inhabit them on a daily basis. Since our inception in 1978, Tishman Speyer has acquired, developed, and operated 533 properties, totaling 223 million square feet, with a combined value of over $129 billion (U.S.). Our current portfolio includes such iconic assets as Rockefeller Center in New York City, The Springs in Shanghai, TaunusTurm in Frankfurt and the Mission Rock neighborhood currently being realized in San Francisco.
ART PRODUCTION FUND is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences and expanding awareness through contemporary art. Past projects include: Elmgreen & Dragset,“Prada Marfa,” Valentine, TX, Ugo Rondinone, “Seven Magic Mountains,” Las Vegas, Jeff Koons, “Seated Ballerina,” Rockefeller Plaza, NYC, Zoe Buckman, “CHAMP,” LA; Raul de Nieves “When I Look In To Your Eyes I See the Sun,” Miami; Nancy Baker Cahill “Liberty Bell”, multiple cities; Sanford Biggers “Oracle”, Rockefeller Center, NY; Lucy Sparrow “Tampa Fresh Foods'', Tampa, FL. Derrick Adams “Funtime Unicorns”, Rockefeller Center, NY, Sanford Biggers “Oracle”, Hammer Museum.
Rockefeller Center
"Dominique Fung: A Tale of Ancestral Memories"
August 7th, 2023 - November 17th, 2023
