Columbia University School of the Arts Visual Arts Professor Sarah Sze's intricate new sculpture "Still Life with Landscape (Model for a Habitat)" opened on the High Line between West 20th and West 21st streets in New York in June.
Sze created an elaborate metropolis of perspectival architectural models that are bisected by the High Line path itself. The sculpture, constructed of stainless steel and wood and measuring 22 feet at its largest, forms an open gateway that visually frames the views to the north and south, as well as allows park visitors to physically enter and pass through the space it outlines. The architecture, complex and dynamic, acts as a bird, butterfly and insect observatory, with perches, feeding spots and birdbaths throughout. It will remain on view through June 2012.
Sarah Sze has had solo projects at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the Institute of Contemporary Art, London. She currently has a solo exhibition at MARMAC, Niece, France. Her work has been exhibited in international venues such as the Venice Biennale, the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh, the Whitney Biennial, and the Sao Paolo Biennial. Sze is a 2003 John and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow. Upcoming exhibitions and projects include Sarah Sze: Works on Paper, Asia Society, New York; a choreographic collaboration with Trajal Harell, which will premier at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; a permanent installation for Estuaire in Nantes, France; and a solo exhibition at the Mudam in Luxembourg. Sze is represented by Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in New York. She has a degree in painting from Yale University, 1991 and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York in 1997.
Sarah Sze, Still Life with Landscape (Model for a Habitat), 2011, stainless steel, wood, overall dimensions: 9 x 22 x 21 ft
