Will Cotton at Rockefeller Center
NEW YORK, NY - Acclaimed New York-based artist Will Cotton brings his imaginative world to life at Rockefeller Center with a stunning public art exhibition featuring larger-than-life murals and captivating sculptures. Opening on March 3, the presentation invites the public to step into a fantastical landscape set amidst the urban environment of Rockefeller Center. This program is the next iteration of the renowned Art in Focus public art program presented by the non-profit Art Production Fund.
Cotton’s site-specific installation at Rockefeller Center brings together his paintings of the American cowboy, mythical creatures, and his iconic landscapes of a confectionary utopia. Cotton, renowned for his signature blend of uncanny realism and Americana, transforms Rockefeller Center into a dreamscape where vast skies and iconic cowboy imagery intertwine with the luscious textures of cakes and sweets.
In the Rink Level beneath 45 Rockefeller Plaza, a massive mural will feature imagery of his painted series of cowboys and unicorns, along the 125-foot display. These images will also appear across the Center in several public locations (30 Rockefeller Plaza, 10 Rockefeller Plaza, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, and more), adding an exciting visual spectacle to the New York City landscape.
The cowboys and unicorns in Cotton's latest works serve as modern mythic figures, representing the rugged individualism of the American West and the ethereal beauty of these splendid, but complex creatures. This installation also revisits a central theme in Cotton’s work: the allure of sweets, confections, and the dreamlike landscapes of a sugar-coated, but flawed utopia. Cotton merges the visceral and the ephemeral. The juxtaposition of these elements—the earthy, gritty cowboy culture with the ethereal and magical presence of unicorns, alongside his iconic candy-coated worlds—invites viewers to reflect on how temptation and indulgence shape our understanding of reality.
In the vitrine spaces of 45 Rockefeller Plaza, Cotton revisits his earlier imagery of sweets, cakes, and confections, which has long served as a vehicle for exploring themes of excess, and the tension between overindulgence and insatiability. Featuring towering cake sculptures and large scale details of sumptuous frosting, these works confront the viewer with the dissonance between consumption and lack, questioning how desire is constructed and how the visual language of indulgence can both seduce and critique.
This exhibition, placed within the grand context of Rockefeller Center, provides a space for reflection on the construction of American mythology, the role of excess in shaping identity, and how our cultural narratives are informed by both the tangible and the imagined. Cotton's approach to painting—rich in detail, texture, and color—serves as both a formal and conceptual meditation on the nature of spectacle and the complexities of visual pleasure.
“My work is focused on the space between reality and fantasy—between the corporeal and the mythological, and how these concepts shape our understanding of culture, identity, and desire.” – WILL COTTON
“Will Cotton’s seductive works at Rockefeller Center give visitors the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in his dream-like world, bringing a welcomed sweetness to their encounter. The gorgeous cotton candy colored installation, with images that seem suspended in time, is in stark contrast to the bustling urban environment that surrounds it.” – CASEY FREMONT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ART PRODUCTION FUND
“We are delighted to bring Will Cotton’s exuberant works to Rockefeller Center, and welcome spring at one of the world’s most famous destinations for public art. Moments of joy await all who encounter Cotton’s fantastical landscapes as they navigate our campus this season.” – EB KELLY, SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, TISHMAN SPEYER AND HEAD OF ROCKEFELLER CENTER
WILL COTTON was born in Melrose, Massachusetts and raised in New Paltz, New York. He has a BFA from Cooper Union in New York City, and also studied at the Beaux Arts in Rouen, France and the New York Academy of Art. Cotton is represented by Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, New York, and Brussels; Baldwin Gallery, Aspen; and Ronchini Gallery, London. His paintings have been shown at San Francisco Museum of Art (2000); Seattle Art Museum (2002); Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany (2004); Hudson River Museum, New York (2007); Triennale di Milano, Italy (2007); Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, France (2008); Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba (2009); Albright-Knox Art Gallery, New York (2009); Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (2013); Virginia MOCA (2013); Orlando Museum of Art (2017); Louvre Lens, France (2023), among others.In 2010, he served as the artistic director for the California Gurls music video for pop singer Katy Perry. His work is in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; Seattle Art Museum, Princeton University Art Museum, Washington; Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio; and Orlando Museum of Art, Florida, as well as many prominent private collections. Cotton lives and works in New York. In May 2025, he will open a solo exhibition titled Between Instinct and Reason of new paintings at Templon New York, on view between May 7 - June 21, 2025.
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, Joel Mesler, Shantell Martin and Jake Clark.
ROCKEFELLER CENTER is a global icon, built nearly a century ago by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. as a “city within the city.” Today, under the stewardship of owner and operator Tishman Speyer, its collection of art deco buildings surrounding the world-renowned plaza and Rink together comprise the city’s most dynamic destination to work, play, dine, and shop. The Center has embarked on a revitalization to deepen the unparalleled sense of New York City soul on campus, including a reimagination of the Rink Level completed in 2022, and the introduction of The Beam visitor experience at the Top of the Rock observation deck in 2023. New Yorkers and visitors to the Center enjoy art, shopping, dining, leisure, and entertainment experiences from the city’s brightest and most creative talents. For more information, visit rockefellercenter.com.
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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