Randall's Island Sports Foundation (RISF), The Bronx Museum of the Arts, and Made Event announce FLOW, a two-part public art exhibition that will be on view during the summers of 2011 and 2012 along the shoreline at Randall's Island Park. This unique project is aimed at fostering an appreciation of the waterfront environment through large-scale outdoor sculptures and art installations. The first installation, titled FLOW.11, will be unveiled on July 1, 2011, with additional special celebrations planned for Labor Day Weekend, in tandem with Electric Zoo, a three-day electronic music festival at Randall's Island featuring the planet's biggest international DJs and live acts across four stages.
Flow.11 will feature five site-specific projects by emerging artists. The artists were selected from this year's Bronx Calling, the first Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) biennial at the Bronx Museum and Wave Hill. Visitors to the park can view the art installations free of charge on foot and by bike along the island's newly restored 4.5-mile waterfront pathways.
"We are thrilled to host FLOW on Randall's Island Park. This exciting project will draw many new and existing visitors to the island this summer and next. Randall's Island's beautiful waterfront pathways are the perfect location for these inspiring works of public art, set against the Manhattan skyline. FLOW is the first of many visual arts events which will take advantage of Randall's Island's unique setting in the coming years, and the installation reinforces RISF's mission to transform the park into a varied and comprehensive recreational resource for New Yorkers," said Aimee Boden, Executive Director of the Randall's Island Sports Foundation.
The artists creating works for FLOW.11 at Randall's Island are Andrew Chan, Katherine Daniels, Jongil Ma, Gregory Reynolds, and Romy Scheroder. Their works range from a 12-foot sci-fi-themed Resident Alien, inspired by the island's large water tower, to a chain-link fence woven with colorful plastic ribbons representing the island's Native American past, to Hey Poseidon, a shipwrecked wooden boat reminiscent of the many boats in the Park's history that have foundered in the surprisingly strong currents of the Hell Gate rapids in the East River. Each site has been selected to best showcase the artwork and the island -- from the ball fields to the bike and pedestrian pathways and the riverside lawns - and to reach out to Randall's Island's diverse community of ball players, bikers, runners, walkers, picnickers, island explorers, and events goers.
Randall's Island Park is a remarkable 480-acre waterfront resource located in the East River, with unparalleled views of Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan. New waterfront pathways run along the island's shoreline, which includes almost 9 acres of restored salt marsh and freshwater wetlands. The Park also offers a world-class track & field stadium, a golf center, a state-of-the-art 20-court tennis center and over 60 new sports fields, as well as the Harlem River Event site, which is home to concerts, theater, and events. In addition, the Randall's Island Sports Foundation runs year-round youth sports and arts programs that are offered free of charge to thousands of children annually, and are run in close partnership with over 120 local public schools and community-based organizations in Harlem and the South Bronx. As a result, the park is fast becoming the ultimate playground for all New Yorkers.
"We are very proud to bring outdoor art and sculpture to Randall's Island through the FLOW exhibitions, and hope that the confluence of art and environment will find continued expression at the Park," said Holly Block, Executive Director, The Bronx Museum of the Arts.
FLOW has been made possible through a generous grant from the Rockefeller Foundation's New York City Cultural Innovation Fund (CIF), alongside support from Made Event.
