New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Just Used One of His Briefings to Unveil a New Set of Blue-Chip Public Artworks at LaGuardia Airport

by admin

Jun 10, 2020

artnet

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled a group of new
commissioned artworks at LaGuardia Airport on June 10, signaling
that the city is slowly beginning to return to normal.

The works, curated by the Public Art Fund, are by Jeppe
Hein, Sabine Hornig, Laura Owens, and Sarah Sze, who were selected
from an initial group of 25 artists from 11 countries.

“The artwork, it really is breathtaking,” Cuomo told
reporters at a press conference. “I actually installed the mosaics
here personally. I did it on Saturday afternoons and in the
evenings and in my personal time. It’s part of my Italian heritage.
I did mosaics in my bathroom, I did the backsplash in my
kitchen—this was a little larger, but I want to thank you for
giving me the opportunity and I’m glad I came through.”

The mosaic Cuomo was referring to, which stretches
across the entirety of the Terminal B main departures
hall, is the work of Owens. Titled I NY, it took nine
months to complete and is among the largest mosaics in the world.
With 625,000 glazed ceramic tiles, it covers nearly 25,000
square feet.

Jeppe Hein, Laura Owens, Sabine Hornig, and Sarah Sze, whose work is on view the new Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Photo by Tom Wagner, via Jeppe Hein Studio; by Noah Webb, via Gavin Brown’s enterprise, Sadie Coles HQ, and Galerie Gisela Capitain; by Sabine Hornig and VG-Bild Kunst, Bonn Germany, via Tanya Bonakdar Gallery; and by Deborah Feingold, via Sarah Sze.

Jeppe Hein, Laura Owens, Sabine Hornig,
and Sarah Sze. Photo by Tom Wagner, via Jeppe Hein Studio; by Noah
Webb, via Gavin Brown’s enterprise, Sadie Coles HQ, and Galerie
Gisela Capitain; by Sabine Hornig and VG-Bild Kunst, Bonn Germany,
via Tanya Bonakdar Gallery; and by Deborah Feingold, via Sarah
Sze.

Sze’s work, which is suspended from the ceiling, is a spherical
sculpture that includes nearly 1,000 photographs of the sky
over New York, taken at various times throughout the day.
Titled Shorter than the Day after an Emily
Dickenson poem, it weighs five tons.

The walkway connecting the arrivals and departures areas to the
parking garage features Hornig’s colorful, two-story glass mosaic,
which is a tribute to the airport’s namesake, former New York mayor
Fiorello La Guardia. The translucent collage,
titled La Guardia Vistas, pairs images of the city
with quotes by La Guardia, including one that reads: “It
has been my lot all my life to be called radical. Why? Only because
I have consistently objected to conditions which I have
conscientiously believed were wrong.”

Hein, meanwhile, created functional, bright red benches
with fanciful looping curls where travelers can stop to rest. The
benches are paired with 70 reflective balloon-shaped steel
sculptures that hang from the ceiling

“Civic architecture should not only be functional, but inspiring
and appealing… Part of the design requirements were to have key art
pieces built in,” Rick Cotton, the executive director of the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey, said at the press event. “The
Public Art Fund’s selections bring creativity, energy, buoyancy,
and spirit to this new civic space.”

Only Hein’s work is located past security checkpoints, but it
will be some time until the general public can make a dedicated art
pilgrimage to LaGuardia: due to the shutdown, the terminal will be
open only to ticketed passengers, employees, and those on official
business.

The Port Authority broke ground on the new terminal four years
ago as part of a major expansion and overhaul that will bring the
airport to 840,000 square feet of space. When it’s done,
LaGuardia will go from being the “worst airport in the country to
the best,” Cotton said.

The unveiling came just days after New York City entered phase
one of the state’s reopening plan, allowing some nonessential
businesses to resume business for the first time since March
22.

“We needed this today,” Cuomo said at the press conference. “We
needed to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We needed to see
possibility. We needed to see New York stand up and shine. We
needed to remember how great a place this is and how great a people
we are.”

See more photos of LaGuardia’s new art below.

Sarah Sze, Shorter than the Day (2020). Commissioned by LaGuardia Gateway Partners in partnership with Public Art Fund for LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B. Photo by Nicholas Knight, courtesy of the artist; LaGuardia Gateway Partners; Public Art Fund, NY. ©Sarah Sze.

Sarah Sze, Shorter than the Day
(2020). Photo by Nicholas Knight, courtesy of the artist; LaGuardia
Gateway Partners; Public Art Fund, NY. ©Sarah Sze.

Jeppe Hein, All Your Wishes (2020). Commissioned by LaGuardia Gateway Partners in partnership with Public Art Fund for LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B. Photo by Nicholas Knight, courtesy of the artist; LaGuardia Gateway Partners; Public Art Fund, NY; 303 GALLERY, NY; KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin; Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen.

Jeppe Hein, All Your Wishes
(2020). Photo by Nicholas Knight, courtesy of the artist; LaGuardia
Gateway Partners; Public Art Fund, NY; 303 GALLERY, NY; KÖNIG
GALERIE, Berlin; Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen.

Laura Owens, I [pizza emoji] NY (2020). Photo by Tom Powel Imaging, courtesy of the artist;
Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York, Rome; Sadie Coles
HQ, London; and Galerie Gisela Capitan, Cologne.

Sabine Hornig, La Guardia Vistas (2020). Commissioned by LaGuardia Gateway Partners in partnership with Public Art Fund for LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B. Photo by Nicholas Knight, courtesy of the artist; LaGuardia Gateway Partners; Public Art Fund, NY; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles. ©Sabine Hornig and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn Germany.

Sabine Hornig, La Guardia
Vistas (2020). Photo by Nicholas Knight, courtesy of the
artist; LaGuardia Gateway Partners; Public Art Fund, NY; Tanya
Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles. ©Sabine Hornig and VG
Bild-Kunst, Bonn Germany.

Sarah Sze, Shorter than the Day
(2020). Photo by Nicholas Knight, courtesy of the artist; LaGuardia
Gateway Partners; Public Art Fund, NY. ©Sarah Sze.