‘I was thinking about scale, verticality and horizontality; for some works you have to look up and some works you have to look down, and these also become strategies of engagement,’ Littman told us, adding, ‘What I didn’t want to do with this installation is fight against the urban backdrop, the architecture, and the crowds too much – that would be a losing battle in space like Rockefeller Center.’
Kiki Smith’s bronze female sculpture, Rest Upon (2009), dozes with a lamb at the plaza’s flower-lined entrance on Fifth Avenue, creating an interesting juxtaposition between the figure’s demure posture and its position amid the dense crowds. Elsewhere, Nick Cave’s Untitled (2018) morphs from a tenacious Black Power fist into a larger-than-life gramophone.
Arguably the most striking intervention is Ibrahim Mahama’s jute flags, waving in lieu of the 192 UN flags that normally encircle the Rockefeller Center’s iconic ice skating ring. The specially commissioned installation of fifty flags, crafted by the artist in his native Ghana from used cocoa bean bags, delivers a strong political punch, touching on themes of slavery, economic disparity and oppression.
Rest Upon, 2009, by Kiki Smith, presented by Pace Gallery, Frieze Sculpture.
Archetype of Joint Effort, 2019, by José Dávila. © The artist. Courtesy of Sean Kelly, New York
Untitled, 2019, by Ibrahim Mahama, presented by White Cube.
Untitled, 2019, by Ibrahim Mahama, presented by White Cube. Courtesy of Frieze
Metnedaruth, 2009/2014, by Aaron Curry.
Cannibal Junkie, 2016, by Rochelle Goldberg. Courtesy of the artist and Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York
INFORMATION
Frieze Sculpture is on view until 28 June. For more information, visit the Frieze website
ADDRESS
Rockefeller Center
45 Rockefeller Plaza
New York
-
Jack White's Third Man Records opens a Paris pop-upJack White's immaculately-branded record store will set up shop in the 9th arrondissement this weekend
-
Designer Marta de la Rica’s elegant Madrid studio is full of perfectly-pitched contradictionsThe studio, or ‘the laboratory’ as de la Rica and her team call it, plays with colour, texture and scale in eminently rewarding ways
-
‘Nothing just because it’s beautiful’: Performance artist Marina Abramović on turning her hand to furniture designMarina Abramović has no qualms about describing her segue into design as a ‘domestication’. But, argues the ‘grandmother of performance art’ as she unveils a collection of chairs, something doesn’t have to be provocative to be meaningful
-
20 years on, ‘The Gates’ makes a digital return to Central ParkThe 2005 installation ‘The Gates’ by Christo and Jeanne-Claude marks its 20th anniversary with a digital comeback, relived through the lens of your phone
-
In ‘The Last Showgirl’, nostalgia is a drug like any otherGia Coppola takes us to Las Vegas after the party has ended in new film starring Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl
-
‘American Photography’: centuries-spanning show reveals timely truthsAt the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Europe’s first major survey of American photography reveals the contradictions and complexities that have long defined this world superpower
-
Don't miss these seven artists at Frieze Los AngelesFrieze LA returns for its sixth edition, running 20-23 February, showcasing over 100 galleries from more than 20 countries, as well as local staples featuring the city’s leading creatives
-
Miami’s new Museum of Sex is a beacon of open discourseThe Miami outpost of the cult New York destination opened last year, and continues its legacy of presenting and celebrating human sexuality
-
Sundance Film Festival 2025: The films we can't wait to watchSundance Film Festival, which runs 23 January - 2 February, has long been considered a hub of cinematic innovation. These are the ones to watch from this year’s premieres
-
What is RedNote? Inside the social media app drawing American users ahead of the US TikTok banDownloads of the Chinese-owned platform have spiked as US users look for an alternative to TikTok, which faces a ban on national security grounds. What is Rednote, and what are the implications of its ascent?
-
Architecture and the new world: The Brutalist reframes the American dreamBrady Corbet’s third feature film, The Brutalist, demonstrates how violence is a building block for ideology
