| As Above, So Below is a new commission by Rob Fischer that utilizes one of his preferred materialsÐ-a standard industrial trash dumpster—as its starting point. The artist transforms this ubiquitous element of everyday urban life in a number of ways. It is presented standing erect, giving it an architectural quality which both elevates it to seemingly a higher cultural status and calls to mind art historical notions of entropy and excavation. Into the side of the dumpster, he cuts a "door"mdash;another architectural reference—through which the public can pass. Fischer further changes its "skin" from solid to semi-transparent by replacing its "panes" with stained glass. The dumpster creates a structure or housing for the windows, which were reclaimed from a 1940s church and recycled into the piece as abstract colors, geometric shapes and words, arranged in patterns devised by the artist.
Rob Fischer was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and received a BFA from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He lives and works in Brooklyn and has exhibited his work in numerous venues, including Cohan and Leslie, New York (2007); Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria, New York (2005); Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, California (2005); and Conductor's Hallway Gallery, London (1999).
Ongoing at MetroTech: Tony Matelli's Stray Dog (1998), James Angus's Basketball Dropped from 35,000 feet at Moment of Impact (1999), and Tom Otterness's Alligator (1996) and
Visionary (1997), all commissioned by Public Art Fund, continue to be exhibited within the MetroTech Commons.
MetroTech Center is located in Downtown Brooklyn between Jay Street and Flatbush Avenue at Myrtle Avenue. Viewing hours are dawn to dusk daily for outdoor works, Monday through
Friday 8am to 6pm for Jedediah Caesar's and Paula Hayes's installations in the lobby of One MetroTech Center. Subway: A, C, F to Jay Street/Borough Hall, exit at Myrtle Promenade; R to Lawrence Street; Q to Dekalb Avenue. This exhibition is free.
Public Art Fund is New York's leading presenter of artists' projects, new commissions, installations and exhibitions in public spaces. For over 30 years, the Public Art Fund has been committed to working with emerging and established artists to produce innovative exhibitions of contemporary art throughout New York City. By bringing artworks outside the traditional context of museums and galleries, the Public Art Fund provides a unique platform for an unparalleled public encounter with the art of our time.
Recent critically acclaimed exhibitions and presentations include Anish Kapoor's Sky Mirror at Rockefeller Center; Sarah Sze's Corner Plot and Damien Ortega's Obelisco Transportable at Doris C. Freedman Plaza; Sarah Morris's Robert Towne at Lever House; and Alexander Calder in New York at City Hall Park.
Since 1993, Public Art Fund's program at MetroTech has exhibited new commissions and recent works by more than fifty emerging and established artists including Vito Acconci, Liz Craft, Jacob Dyrenforth, Roman de Salvo, Rachel Foullon, Amy Gartrell, Luis Gispert, Corin Hewitt, Matthew Day Jackson, Matt Johnson, Peter Kreider, Tony Matelli, Ryan McGuinness, Dave McKenzie, Franco Mondini-Ruiz, Mamiko Otsubo, Tom Otterness, Roxy Paine, Ester Partegàs, Peter Rostovsky, Valeska Soares, Do-Ho Suh, Marc Swanson and Ursula von Rydingsvard.
Everyday Eden at MetroTech Center is part of an ongoing program organized by the Public Art Fund and sponsored by MetroTech Commons Associates, an organization that consists of MetroTech companies Bear Stearns & Company, Forest City Ratner Companies, JPMorganChase, National Grid, WellChoice and Polytechnic University. Special thanks to Forest City Ratner Companies and First New York Partners.
Robert Fischer's As Above, So Below is a project of the Public Art Fund program In the Public Realm, which is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
Public Art Fund is a non-profit arts organization supported by generous contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations, and with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
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