First Edition: For the Love of Public Art
February Newsletter
This past weekend I took a much-needed technology break - and as I result I missed the last day of the crazy-short-month - so apologies for sending out a February newsletter in March, but here we are!
While I was off the grid, driving south through New Mexico and across Western Texas, I felt incredibly lucky to be able to visit one of my absolute favorite places in the world, Marfa.
Marfa is a tiny town in West Texas that until the 1970s, was best known for the Marfa Lights and the film location for James Dean’s final picture, Giant, with Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor (more on the long-tail Marfa history here). However, one of my favorite aspects of the town today was initiated when Donald Judd, the renowned minimalist artist, moved to Marfa from New York City with the intention of permanently installing his art. To escape the chaos of New York for more serene surroundings and house his site-specific works in perpetuity, Judd bought numerous buildings throughout the 1,900 person town, including the decommissioned military base. (Today, the artist’s foundation today maintains 22 buildings in Marfa and New York.) In some of the buildings, he also invited friends such as Dan Flavin and John Chamberlain to create artworks in his spaces and kicked off a residency for more temporary works by visiting artists that is still active today.
More recently, in 2005, another permanent public sculpture appeared just outside of the little town, along Highway 90 - PRADA MARFA by the artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset. This work became incredibly popular when Beyonce visited it, but in case you haven’t seen it - the permanent installation is structured similarly to a concrete box (echoing those Judd placed throughout his spaces in Marfa) on the side of a long stretch of desolate highway. When you get closer to the work, it becomes clear that it is not a box, but instead, what looks like a Prada boutique, filled with the 2005 collection of bags and shoes carefully displayed throughout. However, the door is locked and no one works there, so the sculpture serves, in a way, as a time capsule and monument to inaccessible commerce. (There was also an interesting lawsuit about the structure as the Texas Department of Transportation deemed it an “illegal outdoor advertising sign,” more on that here.)
On my second visit here this past weekend, the Judd Foundation buildings were closed in order to continue the fight against COVID, but it felt, nonetheless, incredibly special to be there. Being able to walk around and experience the serenity and creative spirit of the town felt meaningful and I imagine Judd must have felt similarly when he first arrived.
What makes PRADA MARFA, and the little town of Marfa so special to me is the journey, it is both simultaneously so challenging to visit and so worth the trip. By the time you’ve logged 7+ hours in the car, seeing PRADA MARFA emerge appear feels like a mirage well worth the pilgrimage for. Not to mention the fact that once you get to Marfa proper, the people are so lovely. The town truly feels like a beautiful step back in time, and I mean that in the most complimentary way.
The journey and experience on both visits reiterate the power of art for me - as an aesthetic experience but also a connector, of people, of places, and of experiences. Marfa is absolutely a microcosm, but from it, I think there is a lot to learn about the importance and foundational, profound impacts of art within a community and on humanity.
🌊 Deep Dive: Good Public Art
If the above love letter to Marfa tells you anything, it should be that I believe public art is incredibly important. Not only do I know that it creates a strong sense of community, but I also think it is essential in city building. Viewing and experiencing public art creates opportunities for meaningful connections among a diverse range of people and perspectives and a powerful community can, in turn, shed light on different experiences and opinions, outside one’s own. Today more than ever, it is important to have these experiences where one lives.
Below I’ve included a few awesome public artworks that are worth exploring in a number of cities. If I didn’t cover your city please do reach out and I am more than happy and willing to write more!
Brookfield Place, New York x Rashid Johnson
Brookfield properties, in general, has some incredible installations but I am super excited about their newest installment by one of my favorite Black artists whose work resonates more and more with each passing day of this anxiety-inducing pandemic.Bay Adelaide Centre x James Turrell x Michah Lexier
Another artwork permanently installed in a Brookfield property. I love that these works are just as powerful from the outside as they are from within the space.
The Highline, New York
You can truly never go wrong with a walk along the Highline. I also love that it transformed an “unusable” space into one of New York’s top destinations. I am obsessed with Simone Leigh’s “Brick House”, so catch it before it finds a new home.
The Bentway, Toronto
One of my new favorite spots. Really reminds me of the beginnings of New York’s Highline. My favorite part of it so far is the Alex McLeod installation.
CROWN FOUNTAIN, Chicago
Ok, Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate (a.k.a. the Bean) is really amazing, but so is the somewhat-lesser-known work by Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa. The fountain/sound/video work of various people spouting water is just so enchanting.
Walter De Maria's The Lightning Field in New Mexico.
This work is next on my personal art-pilgrimage-and-wanderlust wishlist. However, visiting it is no easy feat, and the only way to experience this piece is to get a reservation and spend the night on-site. It is next to impossible to get a reservation to experience but I am just putting it out into the universe…
🔥 Trending
NFTs…while I’ve heard this term more times than I can count now and it almost inspires an instant migraine - it would be remiss to not include a mention in this Trending section, so here we are.
Digital artist pioneer, Beeple, recently sold a work for $6.6M ahead of the sale of another work of his at Christie’s. (The Christie’s sale will represent the first digital work to be offered at one of the traditional houses.) The current bid is $3M USD with 124 bids placed, as of my writing, and the auction closes in 9 days.
As always, love Kenny’s all-too-real opinions on the art world, this month he’s talking NFTs as an artist as well as an art critic/commentator.
While I love that the concept of these digital artworks for a few reasons, such as increased transparency and the ability to seamlessly transact on the secondary market, (therefore, increasing the interest in investing in art with this ability) - the jury is really still out on how I feel about these on the whole. Next month’s edition may contain thoughts on the genre, or not, we shall see.
👋 Parting Words…
I highly recommend hunting down some public art near you to visit - not only will it provide an excuse to leave your desk but it may actually re-energize you! I know it did for me. Until next time…
XX, B