Park update: From September 30 – October 4, the High Line Spur & Moynihan Connector at 30th Street will be closed.
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Kim Beck
The Sky Is the Limit
Rooftops along the southern end of the High Line
October 9, 2011, 4:00 PM
The Sky Is the Limit/NYC consisted of fleeting messages from advertising billboards and storefront signage written by a skywriting plane. 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. With the uncertainty in the economy, The Sky Is the Limit/NYC was intended to play upon universal longings for hope and change by engaging the most potent symbol of longing in the landscape: the sky.
“In the Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West writes ‘Surrender Dorothy’ in the sky,” said Beck. “The Sky is the Limit/NYC echoes this vague threat, in this case of a double-dip recession, while using the media of smoke to create a drawing in the sky.”
Photos courtesy of the artist.
Artist bio
Kim Beck (b. 1970, Colorado) lives and works in New York and Pittsburgh. Recent solo exhibitions include Mixed Greens, New York (2014); Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis (2013); Gridspace, Brooklyn, New York (2011); and Under New Management, Toronto, Canada (2010). Her work has also been featured in group exhibitions at the Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh (2013); Islip Art Museum, New York (2012); the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (2011); P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York (2009), and the Kitchen, New York (2009).
Support
This High Line Art Commission is presented by Friends of the High Line and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. This High Line Art Commission is made possible by Donald R. Mullen, Jr. and Mixed Greens, NYC, with additional support from the Studio for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon. The High Line Art 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 with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
