american artist Miya Ando (b. 1973) maintains a conceptual and materially diverse practice inspired by nature and temporality, frequently referring to ephemeral elements such as weather, seasonal changes, or tidal patterns. Based in New York, her work has been exhibited worldwide and received numerous awards and commissions.
Last year, Ando was named winner of the 2023 Brookfield Place Annual New York Arts Commission, which each year offers the recipient the opportunity to produce a new work intended for the public. Ando chose to highlight the effects of climate change in his installation flower atlaswhich will be on view in the Brookfield Place Winter Garden until September 14, 2023.
Flower Atlas by Miya Ando at Brookfield Place New York. Images of Fadi Kheir
flower atlas engages with a traditional way of telling Japanese time – the Kō calendar – which includes 72 annual seasons. The artwork sees 72 fabric banners suspended across the site’s gleaming glass atrium, each corresponding to one of the seasons of the Kō calendar. Based on observations of nature and natural processes, such as the ripening of certain fruits or the emergence of animals from winter, the subtle but significant progression of time is reflected in flower atlas through meticulously crafted fabrics with a range of mediums including ink, micronized silver, gold, mica, oil or resin.
Visitors to the Winter Garden will be greeted by an undulating and visually immersive sky of images, which invites research into specific dates and times of the year. In the process of contemplating the immense work, ideas around the perception of time, the environment and the Anthropocene come to the fore.
Flower Atlas by Miya Ando in Brookfield Place, New York. Images of Fadi Kheir
In addition to installing flower atlas will be an artist conference, “Artistic reflections on climate changeon July 20, 2023. The event will include a discussion with Ando and Nikon Ambassador and National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale and moderated by Kendal Henry, an artist and curator with over three decades of experience specializing in public art projects global. The discussion will highlight the ways each artist sees and engages with climate change issues. The event will culminate with the announcement of the 2024 Brookfield Place New York Annual Arts Commission recipient.
Flower Atlas by Miya Ando in Brookfield Place, New York. Images of Fadi Kheir
Brookfield Place has become a stronghold of public arts, especially for this annual award. Later this summer, following Ando’s exhibition flower atlas installation, the venue will host an on-site opera, Song of the nightingale, commissioned and produced by On Site Opera and Brookfield Arts. Featured at three of Brookfield Properties’ public sites, including Brooklyn Commons, Manhattan West and Brookfield Place, the opera is adapted from the opera by Hans Christian Anderson The Nightingale—the story of a collector traveling the world in search of the most beautiful objects.
“Miya Ando: Flower Atlasis on view in the Brookfield Place Winter Garden until September 14, 2023.
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