Jeppe Hein, Mirror Labyrinth NY, (2015). (Courtesy of König Galerie, Berlin; 303 Gallery, New York; and Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen)
Jeppe Hein, Appearing Rooms, 2004. (Courtesy of König Galerie, Berlin; 303 Gallery, New York; and Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen)
A series of new sculptures by Danish artist Jeppe Hein are coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park in May, and yes, they’re meant to be touched—the exhibition title literally asks you to do so. Mr. Hein’s Please Touch the Art is presented by the Public Art Fund with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, and will feature 18 sculptures from three bodies of work by Mr. Hein. It will be the artist’s largest show in the U.S. to date, and is created specifically to interact with the park’s unique landscape stretching from the Manhattan Bridge to the waterfront and Pier 6.
At Pier 1, Appearing Rooms will feature a series of interactive fountains on the Bridge View Lawn that shoot seven-foot vertical columns of water upward at staggered intervals, creating a series of walls and rooms that viewers can walk in and out of. The piece promises that you’ll be able to move from room to room without “touching a drop of water” during the timed cycle, but we suggest you still prepare to get wet. Appearing Rooms has been shown in exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery in London, Art Basel in Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach, and the Perth International Arts Festival in Australia.
Artist Jeppe Hein. (Photo: Saatchi Gallery)
Mirror-polished stainless steel posts will comprise Mirror Labyrinth at Pier 3 Greenway Terrace. Spaced evenly apart, they’ll be installed in three arcs that together create a pathways for visitors to walk through, their surfaces reflecting the surrounding landscape from the Manhattan skyline to the park’s green lawn.
Finally, Mr. Hein’s will install 16 functional red benches throughout the entire park that will “peak, twist, and bend” along with its existing landscape in the installation Modified Social Benches. Mirror Labyrinth and Modified Social Benches will both be shown for the first time in this exhibition.
“Instead of the respectful distance demanded in museums, Hein’s work invites participation,” said Public Art Fund director and chief curator Nicholas Baume in a statement.
Jeppe Hein splits his time between Berlin and Copenhagen, and his work has been shown in solo exhibitions at the Faena Arts Center in Buenos Aires, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Barbican Centre in London, and the Centre George Pompidou in Paris.
Please Touch the Art will be on view to the public from May 17, 2015 through April 16, 2016.
Jeppe Hein, Modified Social Benches NY, (2015). (Courtesy of König Galerie, Berlin; 303 Gallery, New York; and Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen)
