Santiago Calatrava in NYC (again)

The Directors of Marlborough Gallery, NYC Parks and the Fund for Park Avenue are pleased to announce a new public exhibition of the world-renowned artist, architect, and engineer Santiago Calatrava. The exhibition will run from June 8, 2015 to mid- November, 2015 and will feature seven new monumental aluminum sculptures in red, black, and silver installed along the central median on Park Avenue between 52nd and 55th Streets in New York City. These works represent the artist’s continued exploration of expressive forms and structure abstracted from nature.In the artist’s own words, “their relation to the natural world suggests a link between man and nature, implying the sculptures are found objects in a human forest.”

Two of the works, S2 and S3, are complex tension compression structures wherein each element is held in place through the utilization of very fine, almost invisible cables. Calatrava’s intention is for the sculptures to “simply grow from the ground. Within each sculpture, an internal logic of autonomy delivers lyrical forms and implies a sense of elevation and spiritual uplifting.” Santiago Calatrava builds basswood models to evaluate the aesthetic and structural characteristics of each work before moving to full-scale metal sculptures. The largest of these, S1, is 40 feet across and approximately 20 feet tall. From the side, its rib-like structure appears as a thin arched line. When approached, the massive layered roof reveals its architectonic depth.

Santiago Calatrava’s work continues to shape and redefine the boundaries that have historically separated the visual arts, particularly sculpture, from architecture and engineering. This is evident in the artist’s broad oeuvre, which includes ceramics, drawings, paintings, sculpture, architecture and engineering projects. As a whole, these works express a unified aesthetic anchored in the artist’s continuing exploration of the relationship between the origins of creativity and the evolutionary structure of the natural world.

Calatrava’s artwork has been exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (2005), The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (2012), and the Vatican Museum in Rome (2013). His work is part of a number of international public collections, including The Museum of Modern Art in New York. Among his many international architectural projects, his most recent is the in-progress World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York.

The installation is presented under the auspices of The Fund for Park Avenue Sculpture Committee and NYC Parks, who work together to present a variety of exhibitions by renowned artists on this unique venue. The Fund for Park Avenue relies on community support to plant, light and maintain the trees and flowers on the Park Avenue Mall.