Cuban artist and Los Carpinteros alumnus Alexandre Arrechea's latest body of work spins Manhattan landmarks on their heads. Playfully reinterprating iconic buildings like the Chrysler Building, the US Courthouse and the Empire State Building, his series of 10 bending and flexing sculptures are currently being positioned across a 20-block stretch of manicured Park Avenue.
Each mammoth sculpture of the 'No Limits' installation - presented by Magnan Metz Gallery, in partnership with the city's Department of Parks and Recreation and the Fund for the Park Avenue Sculpture Committee - is utterly loyal in its verisimilitude, and brims over with irony. Despite being constructed form 18,000 lbs of stainless steel, they loop and coil and curve to reflect social and political shifts of today's world.
'I wanted to create a link between the sculptures and an outside event,' says Arrechea. 'They go beyond the realm of architecture and reflect the constant change that we experience in our surroundings.'
Consequently, his version of Warren and Wetmore's the Helmsley Building takes the form of a snake eating it's own tail. 'It's a play on the [Ouboros] myth. It's like a city that devours itself. That has always been my first vision of New York,' the artist explains.
The concept for 'No Limits' revisits an idea Arrechea initially explored in 2009's 'A Room for All'. Exhibited during the Havana Biennale, the work comprised a small house that expanded and contracted according to the rise and fall of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
This week's installation (the last sculpture will be installed on 28 February) marks the culmination of an almost two-year process, from the initial ink drawings, watercolour paintings and detailed maquettes, to Autocad renderings and the actual constructions from steel.
Arrechea's vast sculptures are sure to add a jolt of life to the Upper East Side. The public aspect of the project has not escaped him either - visitors will be able to rotate and spin some of the 20 foot high pieces to fully experience the artist's vision.
'Sherry Netherland', 2013. Courtesy of the artist/Magnan Metz Gallery
A sketch of the 'No Limits' installation by Arrechea. Once fully installed, the works will cover a 20-block stretch of Park Avenue
'The Empire State Building', 2013. Courtesy of the artist/Magnan Metz Gallery
Arrechea's works are constructed from stainless steel, reaching up to 20ft
A maquette of 'City Corp', 2013. Courtesy of the artist/Magnan Metz Gallery
'Flatiron', 2013. Courtesy of the artist/Magnan Metz Gallery
'Chrysler', 2013. Courtesy of the artist/Magnan Metz Gallery
'Court House', 2013. Courtesy of the artist/Magnan Metz Gallery
-
Futuristic-feeling Southwark Tube Station has been granted Grade II-listed statusCelebrated as an iconic piece of late 20th-century design, the station has been added to England’s National Heritage List
-
David Shrigley is quite literally asking for money for old rope (£1 million, to be precise)The Turner Prize-nominated artist has filled a London gallery with ten tonnes of discarded rope, priced at £1 million, slyly questioning the arbitrariness of artistic value
-
The new Bentley Supersports pares back the luxury to create a screaming two-seaterBentley redefines its iconic grand tourer with a lightweight performance variant that strips out the trim and the tech and adds in refined dynamics and more visual drama than ever before
-
Ed Ruscha’s foray into chocolate is sweet, smart and very AmericanArt and chocolate combine deliciously in ‘Made in California’, a project from the artist with andSons Chocolatiers
-
Inside the work of photographer Seydou Keïta, who captured portraits across West Africa‘Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens’, an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, New York, celebrates the 20th-century photographer
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekFrom sumo wrestling to Singaporean fare, medieval manuscripts to magnetic exhibitions, the Wallpaper* team have traversed the length and breadth of culture in the capital this week
-
María Berrío creates fantastical worlds from Japanese-paper collages in New YorkNew York-based Colombian artist María Berrío explores a love of folklore and myth in delicate and colourful works on paper
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekAs we approach Frieze, our editors have been trawling the capital's galleries. Elsewhere: a 'Wineglass' marathon, a must-see film, and a visit to a science museum
-
June Leaf’s New York survey captures a life in motionJune Leaf made art in many forms for over seven decades, with an unstoppable energy and fierce appetite leading her to rationalise life in her own terms.
-
Jamel Shabazz’s photographs are a love letter to Prospect ParkIn a new book, ‘Prospect Park: Photographs of a Brooklyn Oasis, 1980 to 2025’, Jamel Shabazz discovers a warmer side of human nature
-
The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles launches the seventh iteration of its highly anticipated artist biennialOne of the gallery's flagship exhibitions, Made in LA showcases the breadth and depth of the city's contemporary art scene
