Fine Arts Alum Kevin Quiles Bonilla’s site specific installation “For centuries, and still…(anticipated completion)” opens this Sunday, November 13, in Harlem Art Park! Congratulations Kevin!
For centuries, and still…(anticipated completion)
on view from November 2022 – November 2023
Harlem Art Park (E 120th St &, Sylvan Pl, New York, NY 10035)
on view from November 2022 – November 2023
Harlem Art Park (E 120th St &, Sylvan Pl, New York, NY 10035)
A collaboration with Zaq Landsberg
Opening reception: Sunday, November 13, 2022, from 12-5pm
Thinking of both colonial Puerto Rican landscapes, and the ubiquitous New York City construction sites as thresholds, limbos and incomplete environments, For centuries, and still…(anticipated completion) recreates a guard tower (or garita, in Spanish) from the iconic colonial fortresses of Old San Juan, built out of New York City construction fencing material. Echoing the hastily painted green plywood walls, paint sprayed “Post No Bills” stencils, and everyday interventions such as buffed out graffiti and commercial posters, these elements represent a New York City visual language, which creates a visually specific link to Puerto Rico, its colonial legacy to the US, and the history of migration between both locations. Installed at Harlem Art Park for a year, the work depicts the 13-foot tall garita at a 15-degree tilt, as though it is slowly sinking into the wave-like cobblestones.This public art commission is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement, a regrant program supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by LMCC; UMEZ Arts Engagement, a regrant program supported by the Upper Manhattan Empowerment, Zone Development Corporation (UMEZ); with support from the Friends of Art Park Alliance and Art Lives Here.
Image: Detail of For centuries, and still…(anticipated completion), 2022
Site-specific sculpture at Harlem Art Park in Spanish Harlem
