20 years ago, The Ashforth Company purchased and installed “Borealis”, a 29-foot welded-steel sculpture by Mark di Suvero, an internationally renowned sculptor known for his seminal use of steel and cranes in sculpting.
“Borealis” is a massive sculpture made of steel I-beams in a tripod shape, painted in an eye-catching red. A crane was brought in to hoist and place the sculpture on permanent exhibit at Greenwich Plaza between the two buildings. Travelers on both I-95 and the Metro-North Railroad can see “Borealis” as they pass the office complex.
Di Suvero produces monumental outdoor art, shaping steel I-beams with industrial cutting tools, moving them with a hydraulic crane and cherry picker, and bolting or welding them together.
Created by di Suvero in 1988, “Borealis” is the companion piece of another di Suvero sculpture entitled “Aurora,” which is at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. “Borealis” has previously been exhibited in the 1995 Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy and at a 1998 exhibition organized by the Orange County Museum of Art in Orange County, CA.
“We appreciate the opportunity to exhibit and share with our tenants and community such a prominent and inspiring sculpture created by Mark di Suvero, one of America’s most renowned and significant contemporary artists,” said Andrew Ashforth, Co-CEO of The Ashforth Company.
The 87-year-old artist continues to work in his New York studio that occupies a complex of warehouses on an isolated stretch of the East River in Astoria, Queens.
Mark di Suvero’s architectural-scale sculptures – many with moving elements that invite viewer participation – have been exhibited in the United States, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Germany, Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom. His work is in over 100 museums and public collections including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Walker Art Center, and Storm King Art Center.
