Press Release (pdf) | Participating Artists | Sponsorship | Location

November 7, 2008 – September 25, 2009
At MetroTech Center in Brooklyn

Public Art Fund is pleased to present a new exhibition of contemporary art at the MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, opening November 7, 2008. Trapdoor features new commissions by Ethan Breckenridge, Martha Friedman and Sara Greenberger Rafferty, and recent works by Francis Cape. By using or making reference to recognizable objects whose properties are exaggerated or altered in one way or another, the artists express transformation as a physical condition within their works. These artists convey an overarching sense of transition or metamorphosis in works that appear to be changing appearance, moving, disappearing or melting. In each case, there is an element of the unexpected, of things appearing delightfully out of the ordinary; as if the viewer has passed through a portal and entered into some kind of conceptual wonderland. In their own ways, these artists are experimenting with new ways of seeing everyday objects and occurrences, accentuating the spirit of change and innovation that is characteristic of the MetroTech Center's downtown Brooklyn location—an area that has experienced pronounced growth and transformation in the last decade.

	Ethan Breckenridge – I'm OK-You're OK I'm OK-You're OK, a new commission by Ethan Breckenridge, is a sculpture composed of 100 standard, functional furniture dollies, piled on top of another to a staggering height of 16 feet. Positioned within a seating area in MetroTech Commons, I'm OK-You're OK appears as a statuesque column resembling a civic monument or public marker. More about this project
	Francis Cape – On Main Street Two of Cape's free-standing pieces, On Main Street and Blue Piece, are sited in the lobby of MetroTech One. Like all of his work, these pieces combine the look of Minimalist sculpture with the simplicity of Shaker design, resulting in intriguing structures that blend history with Modernism.On Main Street includes what appears to be a fragment of a table and part of a shelf, fused with sections of wainscoting and portions of walls. More about this project
	Martha Friedman – Waffle For MetroTech Commons, Friedman has created a seven-foot-tall "waffle" submerged in a thick pool that suggests "syrup". Standing vertically upright, it appears to be melting or forming, and its enlarged scale brings focus to the rises, crevices, and surface of the foam, resin and metal construction. More about this project
	Sara Greenberger Rafferty – After Harry Sara Greenberger Rafferty uses elements of performance as an overarching theme in her work. For MetroTech Center, Rafferty has created After Harry, a seven-foot-tall Plexiglas tank that is empty, aside from ropes and chains left in a pile inside, giving the impression that an escape artist has miraculously broken free. The vacant container is presented as a record of an imagined performance, a "souvenir" of the transformation from bound to unbound, and from being contained inside to freedom beyond the container, that viewers were unable to witness. More about this project

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 Francis Cape'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 Olafur Eliasson's The New York City Waterfalls at four locations on the shorelines of lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Governors Island; Chris Burden's What My Dad Gave Me at Rockefeller Center; James Yamada's Our Starry Night, and Sarah Lucas' Perceval at Doris C. Freedman Plaza; Dara Friedman's Musical on the streets of Midtown Manhattan, 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, Tony Feher, Rachel Foullon, Luis Gispert, Corin Hewitt, Matthew Day Jackson, Matt Johnson, Nina Katchadourian, Peter Kreider, Tony Matelli, Ryan McGuinness, Dave McKenzie, Franco Mondini-Ruiz, Mamiko Otsubo, Tom Otterness, Ester Partegàs, Valeska Soares, Do-Ho Suh, Marc Swanson and Ursula von Rydingsvard.

Sponsorship
Trapdoor at MetroTech Center is part of an ongoing program organized by Public Art Fund and sponsored by MetroTech Commons Associates, and MetroTech companies including: Forest City Ratner Companies, JPMorganChase, National Grid, WellChoice and Polytechnic University. Special thanks to Forest City Ratner Companies and First New York Partners.

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.