On Sunday MoMa PS1 unveiled Katharina Grosse’s mammoth outdoor installation in Rockaway, Queens. Consisting of an abandoned army aquatics facility painted in bright red, the large piece is part of “Rockaway!”, a series of outdoor art installations in response to Hurricane Sandy.
Moving away from the traditional borders of a canvas is something Grosse actively seeks in her career. Her work is often characterised by the seamless gradation of light and shadow mostly found in conventional landscape painting. This technique is then supplemented by her choice to exhibit large and prominent sculptures in which the space is admired and celebrated. “Rockaway!” is a perfect example of this symbiotic relationship between Grosse’s vision and technique with the space she works in.
The Rockaways happen to have been one of the areas most affected by the hurricane Sandy in 2012, and it’s also where Klaus Biesenbach, chief curator at large of the Museum of Modern Art and director of MoMA PS1, has a home. Since then he’s been invested in supporting the local community. “It’s a very fragile, very vulnerable barrier,” Biesenbach told Artnet News about the area. “We know that there’s going to be another storm.”
Katharina Grosse’s temporary public art installation will also serve as one of New York’s top summer attractions as throngs of art-goers are already flocking to snap the artwork in Fort Tilden. “Rockaway!” will remain open until 20 November 2016, and is set to be an Instagram sensation.