Frieze Launches Public Sculpture Installations at Rockefeller Center

Frieze New York has announced the launch of Frieze Sculpture at Rockefeller Center, a new annual public art initiative. Curated by Brett Littman, director of the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, the new outdoor display will debut the week of April 23, in the lead-up to the New York edition of the fair, which opens May 2 on Randall’s Island.

The launch of Frieze Sculpture at Rockefeller Center follows its establishment in London’s Regent’s Park, where a free summer display of more than 20 sculptures and installations welcomes millions of visitors from July through October each year.

For the inaugural edition, Littman will select and place contemporary sculpture across the landmarked 22-acre site, which was created in the 1930s by John D. Rockefeller. The full list of participating galleries and artists will be announced in the spring.

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“My goal for Frieze Sculpture this year is to curate an immersive campus-wide installation that is responsive to the architecture and Noguchi’s bas relief News,” Littman said in a statement. “I plan to include a diverse group of international artists, many of whom have not sited public sculpture in New York before, whose works are conscious of our current political moment and question how sculpture operates in our contemporary world.”

Lee Lawrie’s 1937 bronze Atlas at Rockefeller Center. Photo: Rockefeller Center

Conceived in collaboration with Tishman Speyer, Frieze Sculpture will feature pieces that will be surrounded by some of New York’s most notable public artworks like Paul Manship’s Prometheus and Lee Lawrie’s Atlas sculpture, Jose Maria Sert and Sir Frank Brangwyn’s murals at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, as well as Noguchi’s News, which adorns the Associated Press building.

“Bringing Frieze Sculpture to New York is the next step of our public art journey,” Michaella Solar-March, managing director of Rockefeller Center’s marketing and experience team, said. “We can’t wait for New Yorkers to be able to enjoy this incredible, wide-ranging installation that will effectively turn the Center into an art park each year.”

Frieze Sculpture will be on view at Rockefeller Center from April 23 to June 30.