September 26–October 23, 2019
Monument Lab workshops: October 5 & 12, 2–4pm, free and open to the public
For New Monuments for New Cities, 25 artists or artist groups from across the United States and Canada designed posters of monuments—both possible and impossible to build—that question the format of monuments and envision their future. They span from proposals for traditional monuments, to revised historical statues, to newly imagined methods of public commemoration. They take the form of drawings, photographs, renderings, “missing pet” posters, Wikipedia pages, bold text-based statements, collages, and more. These 25 artworks address questions around permanence, representation, public space, land ownership, and the writing and re-writing of history.
Participating artists include: Regina Agu, Nicole Awai, Judith Bernstein, Susan Blight, Daniela Cavazos Madrigal, Jamal Cyrus, Eric J. García, Guerrilla Girls, Coco Guzman, Hans Haacke, Tonika Johnson, Life of a Craphead (Amy Lam and Jon McCurley), An Te Liu, Teruko Nimura and Rachel Alex Crist, Chris Pappan, Denise Prince, Phillip Pyle, II, Paul Ramírez Jonas, Richard Santiago (TIAGO), Xaviera Simmons, Sin Huellas artists: Delilah Montoya and Jimmy Castillo, Zissou Tasseff-Elenkoff, Vincent Valdez, Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin, and Quentin VerCetty.
In considering the role of monuments to address social histories in our cities, High Line Art collaborated with the High Line Network, a group of infrastructure reuse projects and organizations across North America. As the inaugural Joint Art Initiative of the Network, New Monuments for New Cities traveled to four other Network cities across North America. Buffalo Bayou, in Houston, Texas, Waller Creek, in Austin, Texas, The 606 in Chicago, Illinois, The Bentway in Toronto, Ontario, and the High Line in New York, New York, each selected five local artists or artist groups to create proposals for new monuments. The resulting 25 proposals were presented in different formats at each site. The New York City exhibition will be presented as posters printed at large-scale on aluminum and mounted in the 14th Street Passage on the High Line. The posters will be on view September 26 through October 23, 2019.
In conjunction with New Monuments for New Cities on the High Line, the public art and history studio Monument Lab will present a series of conversations as workshops. Monument Lab has invited artists, organizers, historians, and urbanists to lead open conversations about monuments, cities, and history on October 5 and 12 at 2pm. Eight speakers will guide each of these conversations with the public to share insights and experiences.
About High Line Art
Founded in 2009, High Line Art commissions and produces a wide array of artwork, including site-specific commissions, exhibitions, performances, video programs, and a series of billboard interventions. Led by Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art Cecilia Alemani, and presented by the High Line, the art program invites artists to think of creative ways to engage with the unique architecture, history, and design of the park, and to foster a productive dialogue with the surrounding neighborhood and urban landscape.
For further information about High Line Art, please visit thehighline.org/art.
Support
Lead support for High Line Art comes from Amanda and Don Mullen. Major support for High Line Art is provided by Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons, The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston, and Charina Endowment Fund. High Line Art is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Corey Johnson.
The High Line Network is made possible by the founding support of The JPB Foundation. Additional funding is provided by Amanda and Don Mullen.
