The opening of the installation Breathless Maiden Lane, by Peruvian artist Grimanesa Amorós was marked with a reception yesterday at its 125 Maiden Lane location. It is is the latest in a series of exhibitions from Time Equities Inc.’s (TEI) program, Art-in-Buildings. The exhibit will be open to the public through 2014.
The beautiful exhibit utilizes LED lights and can be seen best from the street in the evening. Amorós was inspired by the beautiful glass, marble, and granite structure of 125 Maiden Lane itself, as well as the neighborhood around it.
In it all, Amorós’ said she saw an element of “breathlessness” in the energy and buzz that comes from Wall Street. The installation is one of her “bubble sculptures” that is the artist’s signature, and features a matrix of LED lights suspended from the ceiling in the middle of the atrium, hovering above the ground as if weightless.
Originally from Lima, Amorós draws from her own Peruvian culture and landscape in her work. The bubbles are meant to inspire thoughts of man-made islands floating on the surface of Lake Titicaca and the LED tubing is meant to evoke the distinctive reeds of northern Peru.
Her work has been exhibited internationally in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America, and has received numerous grants from such prestigious organizations as the National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artist Fellowship (Washington, DC), The Travel Grant Fund for Artists, NEA Arts International (New York, NY), and The Bronx Museum for the Arts: Aim Program (Bronx, NY), and more.
– Charlotte Bryant, Mike Hammer
