“Soft Power” by Alex Da Corte

For decades Venezuelan-American artist Alex Da Corte has been delighting viewers with his sly wit and colorful approach, and his newest installation on display in New York City does not disappoint. “Soft Power” fills The High Line’s billboard on 18th Street and 10th Avenue with a bright pink display inspired by the 1960’s Friz Freleng cartoon, The Pink Panther.

The piece explores the flex of soft power, which Da Corte describes as “a place for fairness, for clear views clearly expressed, for mutualistic relations that benefit all parties or, at least, show consideration for all parties. It is the site for truce.” The color pink has flexed its soft power for decades, selling products, representing queer freedom, and exemplifying a poised resistance. In “Soft Power,” pink takes center stage as a dominant influence, and we can’t look away. Viewers can catch this exhibition on The High Line through May.

“The Space Between Us” by Risha Gorig

Floating fifteen feet above New York’s Union Square Park are two bright pink chairs, facing each other. “The Space Between Us,” (“TSBU”) is by Brooklyn based artist Risha Gorig, who is known for taking a whimsical approach to bleak themes. Gorig says the floating chairs, which represent public discourse, serve “as a poignant reminder of our essential need for communication.” As one of New York’s oldest town squares, Union Square has historically served as a “space for expression, protest, and exchange,” making it the perfect backdrop for the thought provoking and conversation starting installation.  This eye-catching piece will be on display for visitors until May 1, 2025.

“Love Ever After” by Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio

At the heart of Times Square, Swedish designer Pernilla Ohrstedt is celebrating Valentine’s Day with a love… for Oysters? Her sculpture, titled “Love Ever After,” features three dimensional hearts constructed of oyster cages. The installation was created in partnership with the Billion Oyster Project, a New York nonprofit that aims to rebuild oyster reefs in New York Harbor. New York used to be known as the “big oyster” for its abundant shellfish population, and these installations aim to bring awareness to the efforts to clean up the harbor, and bring back its biodiversity. Visitors can circle the art installation to interact with the oyster cages, watching the hearts contained change color and shape as they move. Conservation and shellfish make for a lovely romance in this installation! Although we try our best, the photos don’t do this stunning sculpture justice, we recommend you visit it in person before the exhibition ends on March 4th.

“moonGARDEN” by Lucion

After touring the world with stops in Athens, Brussels, Jerusalem, Moscow, Washington, Mexico City, Medellín, Houston, and Beijing, moonGARDEN has made its way to New York City. The art installation features glowing, color-changing spheres which were created by Lucion, a multimedia production firm based in Quebec.  Currently planted at the Seaport District, the spheres are inspired by set theory, a branch of mathematics that Lucion says “illustrates the notions of sets and belonging.” Each city gets a new perspective, and New York’s installation is titled “Chronicles of the Abyss Walkers,” featuring an underwater themed marine exploration. A peek inside the porthole of one sphere reveals a new world, with giant jellyfish, robotic fish, and an intricate coral reef. The installation is sure to delight visitors of all ages, and art lovers can catch the exhibit through February 2025, before the garden travels to its next destination.

“Secondary Forest” by Giulia Cenci

The High Line is one of our favorite spots in the city, and we are enjoying the last sunny days of fall by exploring the current contemporary art exhibitions on view. The installation “Secondary Forest” by Italian artist Giulia Cenci stands at 24th street, welcoming visitors to investigate the intersection of human forms and organic  elements. The sculptures depict animals, plants, and human appendages created from melted down scrap metal to create a forest that has regenerated after human-caused disturbances, much like the Highline itself. In fact, the artist described how the unique location of the exhibit, which hovers above NYC’s Meatpacking District, where slaughterhouses once stood and chic restaurants and shops now line the streets, influenced her work. As the artist explains, “[T]he High Line is a beautiful work itself; I immediately loved the way nature has been growing and devouring a manmade infrastructure. I started to fantasize about an area where different people, animals, plants, machines, and invisible entities are meeting and crossing.” Cenci’s thought-provoking work will be displayed through March 2025.

“The Little Mermaid” by Edvard Eriksen

When we were in Copenhagen last week for a gathering of the lawyers of the Rome District Chapter, we sought out this diminutive landmark because it reminded us of an immigration debate from many years ago, could Ariel really make the world her oyster?  

Perched atop a rock at the Copenhagen Harbor sits “The Little Mermaid”. Inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a mermaid who gives up everything to fall in love with a prince on land, Danish brewer Carl Jacobsen, known for Carlsberg beer, commissioned Edvard Eriksen to bring  the whimsical princess to life in the form of a statute and gifted it to the city in 1913. According to legend, every morning and every night the mermaid swims from the bottom of the sea to the surface and waits on a rock, hoping to see her prince.  The Danes have proven to have a welcoming spirit to the migrant princess and she has thrived in Denmark for over a hundred years!

Día de los Muertos in Times Square

In the heart of Times Square, the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) has unveiled three vibrantly colorful skeleton statutes in celebration of the traditional Día de los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead. Celebrated on November 1 and 2 in Mexico, Día de los Muertos celebrates the rich cultural tradition that honors the memory of deceased loved ones and reminds us to appreciate life while we have it.

The installation, which is presented in partnership with the Times Square Alliance, the nonprofit Mi Casa es Puebla, and the Mexican Consulate invites visitors to remember and celebrate the memory of their dearly departed.

Dinosaur by Iván Argote

Not to be outdone by our friend in London, “Dinosaur” has made its debut on The High Line. The 16-foot-tall aluminum pigeon sculpture is the newest High Line installation, surveying the city from 30th street. The name “Dinosaur” serves as a nod to the humble pigeon’s incredible origins, as the common birds descended from dinosaurs.

Artist Iván Argote noted that when developing the piece, he wanted to make something strange, funny, and provoking. With this installation, Argote places the pigeon on a pedestal, the kind of space usually reserved for leaders, heroes, or historical figures, and by doing so pushes New Yorkers to question who and what we commemorate. Pigeons, like many of the city’s residents, migrated here from abroad, and Argote highlights that “even the pigeon, a New York fixture, migrated here and made the city their home.”

“Graft” by Edra Soto

Welcoming visitors at the Fifth Avenue entrance to Central Park stands a new sculpture, “Graft” by Puerto Rican artist Edra Soto. “Graft” is part of a series of installations by Ms. Soto that brings to life the exploration of the relationship between our private lives and what we choose to share with the world.   The four screens are sculpted out of corten steel and terrazzo, which are inspired by rejas, or iron screens commonly seen outside of homes in Puerto Rico. The rejas replicate geometric patterns that may be traced back to West Africa’s symbol systems known as Yoruba and pay homage to the island’s Black heritage which is often overlooked by Puerto Rico’s Spanish Colonial history and architecture.

Visitors can stand on the outside of the sculpture, peering across towards the park, or on the inside, where they are invited to sit at tables and seating that mirror the welcoming interior of a home in Puerto Rico. By welcoming us inside, Soto invites New Yorkers to connect to Puerto Rico and its communities across the city.

“Untitled (America/Me)” by Glenn Ligon

For decades New York based artist Glenn Ligon has explored issues of race, sexuality, and identity in his art through a historical lens, drawing on literature and sources from the past. Using text in his work, he plays with language to make us think about shifting meanings in different contexts. Now, Ligon has once again drawn attention to what America means as our nation struggles to maintain unity.

“Untitled (America/Me),” is a new 25 x 75 foot billboard viewable from the High Line at 10th Avenue and 18th Street. The installation revisits Ligon’s iconic 2008 neon sculpture, “Untitled,” which featured the word AMERICA in bold neon caps that flickered on and off. Ligon has modified his original piece by crossing out most letters in AMERICA, leaving behind only the word “ME.” As the artist explains, “The word ‘America’ is eclipsed, and the blackening of the letters adds a layer of ambiguity… It’s timely as we reflect on our purpose as a nation and as individuals.” Timely indeed as we ponder the election this coming November 5th and what America means to each of us.