SHANTELL MARTIN AT ROCKEFELLER CENTER
NEW YORK, NY -NEW YORK, NY - Rockefeller Center and Art Production Fund are pleased to announce a site-specific installation by acclaimed British-American artist SHANTELL MARTIN as part of the ongoing Art in Focus free public art program. This comprehensive exhibition celebrates the diversity of Martin’s work while providing an extensive understanding of her practice. Martin’s large-scale wall drawings, which feature spontaneous, free-flowing illustrations that evolve organically, will be on view in public spaces at Rockefeller Center now through November 7.
The lines, shapes and figures Martin creates are an internal dialogue of a shared humanity that she expresses. “The spontaneity is one of the hallmarks that I bring to my practice as there is nothing planned ahead of time, as I flow with the journey that the ink pen takes me. Each time I am as surprised by the outcome as the viewer. This impromptu energy ends up creating a connectedness in search of a better global understanding,” says the artist. While she is best known for this distinctive line drawing, Martin also works across various mediums, including digital art, fashion, and performance. Shantell Martin’s work was first featured at Rockefeller Center as part of the inaugural iteration of The Flag Project, a crowd-sourced art exhibition, in 2020.
At the Rink Level of 45 Rockefeller Plaza, a 125-foot mural display will feature illustrations on vinyl from Martin’s KOOBs series. KOOBs, or books backwards, is a series of illustrative books that feature Martin’s unique fine-line characters. Upstairs, the physical version of Martin’s KOOBs will be presented for viewers inside a vitrine in the lobby of 45 Rockefeller Plaza. These KOOBs are folded in an accordion style and upon unfolding the 7 foot long book, viewers will find the story of an entire world created by Martin herself.
A curated selection of past artworks by the artist will be on view in the lobbies of 10 Rockefeller Plaza, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and 50 Rockefeller Plaza. Those who work at Rockefeller Center, or any Tishman Speyer property, will be able to see additional pieces at the ZO Clubhouse and Radio Park.
Select spaces will be left blank until Shantell creates a new site specific work, live drawing in her signature style, on September 7th as part of the Art Sundae children’s workshop. Inspired by the artist's practice of "drawing on everything," during the free workshop children will have the opportunity to create their own works of art on recycled bottles and place their work within a larger public art installation.
For Martin, “the act of drawing is essential to our creative nature and I recognize and dare to counter the notion that presents artists as rarified geniuses. Instead, I choose to disrupt this premise by openly revealing the simplicity with which I create, in full view and often with the participation of individuals who come to explore my work as it is being made, always hoping to encourage others to express themselves and return to the artist that is within all of us.”
“This exhibition at Rockefeller Center is such a unique opportunity for visitors to witness the vastness of Martin's multifaceted practice. With the 45 Rock vitrines acting as a key to the styles on view, viewers will make visual connections between Martin’s KOOBs, line drawing, Shantell Sans font, and needlepoint works as they move through the campus." – CASEY FREMONT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ART PRODUCTION FUND
“We are pleased to welcome Shantell Martin as the next creator in the Art in Focus public art series, now in its sixth year. Our partnership with Art Production Fund continues to bring groundbreaking contemporary artists to campus, carrying on the proud Rockefeller Center tradition of bringing free art to New Yorkers.” – EB KELLY, HEAD OF ROCKEFELLER CENTER AND SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR AT TISHMAN SPEYER
SHANTELL MARTIN, a multifaceted artist known for her work across various disciplines, has achieved notable success in the realms of fine art, education, design, philosophy, and technology. Her journey includes collaborations with prestigious institutions such as MIT Media Lab, NYU Tisch ITP, and Columbia University’s Brown Institute, as well as choreographing for the Boston Ballet. Martin's art explores themes like intersectionality, identity, and play, and she has showcased her work in solo exhibitions at renowned galleries, including the 92Y Gallery in New York, Albright Knox Gallery, and the New Britain Museum of American Art. Her involvement in media and technology innovation, particularly at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, highlights her role in integrating visual art with storytelling and technology.
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, Dominique Fung, Debbie Lawson, Melissa Joseph and Joel Mesler.
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 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 557 properties, totaling 226 million square feet, with a combined value of over $128 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. www.artproductionfund.org
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