Kim Beck, Space Available

March 4, 2011 - January, 2012. On rooftops along Washington Street, between West 13th and Gansevoort Streets.

Kim Beck presents three sculptures resembling the skeletal framework behind advertising billboards. These blank forms emulate the abounding indicators of the economic recession, such as empty storefronts and "For Sale" signs. Beck's sculptures have the illusion of depth when viewed from the front, but as visitors move past them, the side views reveal that they are completely flat, cut from perspective drawings and built like theater props.

Installation Sites

A series of three sculptures are installed on roofs of buildings close to the High Line. They integrate seamlessly into the environment of the High Line neighborhood, echoing existing billboards and buildings in partial states of construction. The existence of the three reinforces their visibility and invites visitors to rethink the logic of what they are seeing.

In October, 2011, Kim Beck took her artwork to the sky. The artist worked with a skywriter to inscribe fleeting messages from advertising billboards and storefront signage above New York City. Phrases like “Last Chance” or “Now Open” gradually unfolded, and then faded back into the air, inviting viewers to interpret the language in their own unique way. Read more.

About the Artist

Beck divides her time between New York, NY and Pittsburgh, PA where she is an Associate Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center, Carnegie Museum of Art, Walker Art Center, Mattress Factory, and Socrates Sculpture Park, among other venues. She is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including the Publishing Program for Emerging Artists at Printed Matter, and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant. Her work is included in such public collections as the Carnegie Museum, Denver Art Museum, and Memphis Brooks Museum. Beck holds an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design and a BA from Brandeis University.

Support

This High Line Art Commission is presented by Friends of the High Line and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. High Line Art Commissions are made possible by Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Additional support for Space Available has been provided by The Greenwall Foundation. This program is supported by Vital Projects Fund, Inc, and in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and from the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State's 62 counties. In-kind support provided by Bumble and bumble.

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