High Line Art is pleased to announce its fall program, including commissions by Cosima von Bonin, Kapwani Kiwanga, and Karon Davis, and the North American premiere of Zineb Sedira’s award-winning film Dreams Have No Titles.
Cosima von Bonin: WHAT IF THEY BARK?
September 2023–August 2024
Cosima von Bonin brings her ongoing work WHAT IF THEY BARK? to the High Line, installing a group of anthropomorphic fish sculptures above the park’s iconic 10th Avenue Square. Assembled like a military band ensemble, the fish wear theatrical costumes, play musical instruments, and hold checkered missiles. Featured on the façade of the Central Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2022, von Bonin’s installation continues the artist’s long-running interest in marine life. This humorous composition recalls the statue arrangement of ancient Greek temples, but instead of gods and heroes here the artist places sea creatures on land interacting with one another and doing human activities such as playing music. The figures adorn the top of the railing of the Sunken Overlook as if playing a concert for visitors resting on the seating steps below, adding a playful element to the striking view up 10th Avenue.
Kapwani Kiwanga: On growth
October 2023–September 2024
Kiwanga presents On growth, a stone sculpture of a fern encased in a dichroic glass structure. The work references Wardian cases, the predecessor of the terrarium, which allowed plants to be transplanted to England from its colonies and for plants to continue to thrive amid London’s polluted air in the late 19th century. These enclosures resembled jewelry cases of the time and, similarly, protected botanic treasures from distant lands. On growth references the colonial histories of institutional and commercial botanic nurseries that influenced the scientific understanding of plants and horticulture of today. The dichroic glass of the sculpture transforms the light passing by the sculpture, creating shadows in shifting hues and shapes and creating a threshold between visible and invisible.
Karon Davis: Curtain Call
October 2023–September 2024
For the High Line, Karon Davis creates Curtain Call, a larger-than-life bronze portrait of a ballerina taking her final bow after a performance. The work is inspired by Davis’s childhood, growing up on stage, behind the scenes of dance and theater performances, and seeing the incredible labor, sweat, and perseverance that go into creating a perfect performance for the stage. Part of a large and ongoing series of dancers Davis is working on called Beauty Must Suffer, the work is at once a memory and an homage to her mother and sister, who were both professional dancers. The statue will be placed on the Prairie at 23rd Street, turning the architectural design of the High Line itself into a stage.
Zineb Sedira: Dreams Have No Titles
September 12–November 1, 2023
In 2022, Zineb Sedira won special mention of the Jury at the Venice Biennale for Dreams Have No Titles, her presentation for the French Pavilion. A multi-layered installation, performance, and film, Sedira’s pavilion told her own story of falling in love with film—first watching Italian epics and Spaghetti Westerns in the cinema Les Variétés with her father, which eventually leads her to visit the Algerian Cinémathèque, Algiers’ rich film archive. For the film, Sedira restaged scenes from many of her favorite famous films, including surprising collaborations and solidarities across Italy, France, and Algeria during the country’s fight for independence. Dreams Have No Titles addresses a major turning point in the history of cultural, intellectual and avant-garde production of the 1960s and 1970s in France, Italy, and Algeria. Her contribution also serves as a cautionary tale about the failure of an emancipatory promise which, for many people, remains an unfulfilled dream. The presentation of Dreams Have No Titles on the High Line is the first exhibition of the film after the 59th Venice Biennale, and its premiere in North America.
