DEBBIE LAWSON AT ROCKEFELLER CENTER
NEW YORK, NY - Rockefeller Center and Art Production Fund are pleased to present the first-ever New York exhibition by United Kingdom-based artist DEBBIE LAWSON at Rockefeller Center, on view November 20, 2023, through January 25, 2024.
Lawson’s work navigates the domestic interior, seamlessly intertwining popular narratives and personal histories. Her creations, often inspired by the cultural significance of everyday objects, challenge conventional perceptions of form. For Lawson’s Art in Focus exhibition, she drew inspiration from the architecture of Rockefeller Center. Inspired by Lee Lawrie's Arms of England, the three gilded lions which appear above the 50th Street entrance to 620 Fifth Avenue at Rockefeller Center, Lawson has created site-specific works for the vitrines at 45 Rockefeller Plaza. In the vitrine spaces, the three royal lions become animated, creeping out from their carpets like animals in the woods.
Located at the Rink Level of 45 Rockefeller Plaza, the 125ft concourse features a mural mosaic of carpet imagery and wild animals, including stags, wild boars, deer, tigers, and bears. Iconography within Lawson's work references ancient animal motifs found in traditional carpets and comes from the artist's careful study of patterns within nature and the built environment. The works offer a mesmerizing visual experience, blurring the lines between two and three dimensions.
As viewers wander through the spaces filled with carpet-camouflaged wild animal imagery, Lawson hopes they become main characters within her artistic presentation, embracing the adventure of uncovering hidden, sometimes strange or darker, meanings within.
Created specifically for Lawson’s Art In Focus exhibition, stag sculptures will also be on view at 45 Rockefeller Center and 30 Rockefeller Center lobbies.
To complement the Art In Focus exhibition, Art Production Fund in collaboration with Lawson, will host an Art Sundae event. An initiative designed to foster children's confidence through artmaking, the artist will lead a free and open-to-the-public workshop to produce a public art installation which will be displayed at 10 Rockefeller Plaza.
It has been an absolute pleasure to make works specifically for Rockefeller Center, and I was immediately drawn to the idea of letting three lions loose to ‘roam’ the corridors. I hope the murals will provide a wild backdrop and give some context to the three lion sculptures and the pair of three-dimensional stags in the lobbies. - DEBBIE LAWSON
For her first New York exhibition, we are honored to showcase an artist so inspired by the architecture of Rockefeller Center. Bringing to life nostalgic carpets with elements of camouflaged wild animals, Lawson’s surreal carpet sculptures will mesmerize and surprise visitors during the New York winter season. - CASEY FREMONT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ART PRODUCTION FUND
“Rockefeller Center is best known for its murals and sculptures, yet the facade carvings caught Debbie Lawson’s eye. The gilded lions from Lee Lawrie’s carvings have been reborn as wild lions emerging from ornate tapestries, creating a seamless symbiosis between the Center’s historic design elements and this contemporary art exhibition.” - EB KELLY, HEAD OF ROCKEFELLER CENTER AND SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR AT TISHMAN SPEYER
DEBBIE LAWSON (b. Dundee, Scotland) lives and works in Kent, UK. She graduated with an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art, a BA (Hons) in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, and BA (Hons) English Literature at the University of East Anglia. Lawson creates sculptural works that merge elements from the material world with those from the surreal mindscapes of the collective imagination. The artist's work can be found in prestigious collections, including but not limited to The Saatchi Gallery, UK Parliamentary Collection, Nottingham Castle Museum, Mario Testino, The University of the Arts London, and The University of Dundee. Past exhibitions include Seeing With Your Feet: The Carpet in Contemporary Art, Museum Villa Rot, Germany (2022); Turner Contemporary Open, Turner Contemporary, UK (2021); Cure3, Bonhams, London, UK (2020); Royal West of England Academy 167th annual open, Bristol, UK (2019); The Ruskin Prize, Millennium Gallery, Sheffield (2017); Eccentric Spaces, Riccardo Costantini Gallery, Turin, Italy (2017); 250th Summer Exhibition, curated by Grayson Perry RA, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2017). Lawson is also the recipient of the JD Fergusson Exhibition Award (2013), the British Council Artist Award (2009), the Bethnal Green Old Town Hall Commission (2009), and the Nine Trades of Dundee Commission (2009).
ART IN FOCUS is a multidisciplinary program that showcases installations by contemporary artists inspired by the New York City landscape and contemporary life. Artists featured in the series will have their work displayed in a number of prominent and unexpected public locations throughout Rockefeller Center. Art in Focus is presented in partnership with Rockefeller Center and Art Production Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences, and expanding awareness through contemporary art. Past Art in Focus artists include Joana Avillez, Hein Koh, Portia Munson, LaKela Brown, Lucy Sparrow, Angelica Hicks, Vanessa German, Ryan Flores, Genevieve Gaignard, Oliver Jeffers, Hiba Schahbaz, Sanford Biggers, Hilary Pecis, Maurice Harris, Lisa Congdon, Max Colby, Hugo McCloud, Emily Mullin, Arghavan Khosravi, Lorraine Nam, Joel Gaitan, Basil Kincaid and most recently Dominique Fung.
ABOUT TISHMAN SPEYER (tishmanspeyer.com): Tishman Speyer is a leading owner, developer, operator and investment manager of first-class real estate in 36 key markets across the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Our portfolio spans market rate and affordable residential communities, premier office properties and retail spaces, industrial facilities, and mixed-use campuses. We create state-of-the-art life science centers through our Breakthrough Properties joint venture, and foster innovation through our strategic proptech investments. With global vision, on-the-ground expertise and a personalized approach, we are unparalleled in our ability to foster innovation, quickly adapt to global and local trends and proactively anticipate our customers’ evolving needs. By focusing on health and wellness, enlightened placemaking and customer-focused initiatives such as our tenant amenities platform, ZO, and our flexible space and co-working brand, Studio, we tend not just to our physical buildings, but to the people who inhabit them on a daily basis. Since our inception in 1978, Tishman Speyer has acquired, developed, and operated 533 properties, totaling 223 million square feet, with a combined value of over $129 billion (U.S.). Our current portfolio includes such iconic assets as Rockefeller Center in New York City, The Springs in Shanghai, TaunusTurm in Frankfurt and the Mission Rock neighborhood currently being realized in San Francisco.
ART PRODUCTION FUND is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences and expanding awareness through contemporary art. Past projects include: Elmgreen & Dragset,“Prada Marfa,” Valentine, TX, Ugo Rondinone, “Seven Magic Mountains,” Las Vegas, Jeff Koons, “Seated Ballerina,” Rockefeller Plaza, NYC, Zoe Buckman, “CHAMP,” LA; Raul de Nieves “When I Look In To Your Eyes I See the Sun,” Miami; Nancy Baker Cahill “Liberty Bell”, multiple cities; Sanford Biggers “Oracle”, Rockefeller Center, NY; Lucy Sparrow “Tampa Fresh Foods'', Tampa, FL. Derrick Adams “Funtime Unicorns”, Rockefeller Center, NY, Sanford Biggers “Oracle”, Hammer Museum.
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