Art at Amtrak - Spring 2024 Artworks

WILIAM KENTRIDGE

We Will Make Shoes from the Sky, 2024
Video Installation

Moynihan Train Hall, Main Hall Digital Screens
In Partnership with Empire State Development

In We Will Make Shoes from the Sky by South African artist William Kentridge, a cast of characters stand facing the grand waiting area of the station confronting the bustle of moving passengers below. The characters in each video are based on real people from various moments in history. Some are people who fled Vichy France towards the end of World War II for Martinique and then on to destinations in North and South America. Other characters presented were pioneers of the Negritude movement, which is a consciousness of pride in the cultural and physical aspects of African heritage. This movement took hold in Paris and was led by the famous Martinique writer, Aimé Césaire, and his wife Suzanne Césaire, a teacher, scholar, anti-colonial and feminist activist, and Surrealist. Josephine Baker, a friend to many artists and intellectuals in Paris, also makes an appearance as does James Baldwin, an American who left for France to pursue his social activism and freedom of expression.

The portrayed intellectuals, creatives, writers and artists are also the cast of characters for the theatrical production, The Great Yes, The Great No, which Kentridge has developed for the Luma Foundation and will debut in Arles in 2024 in association with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. For the passengers in Moynihan Train Hall, these characters provide an opportunity to pause and connect to those from the past who embarked on their own journeys to find creative freedom and celebrate individuality.

William Kentridge was born in 1955 in Johannesburg, South Africa where he currently lives and works. Often drawing from socio-political conditions in post-apartheid South Africa, Kentridge’s work takes on a form that is expressionist in nature. For Kentridge, the process of recording history is constructed from reconfigured fragments to arrive at a provisional understanding of the past—this act of recording, dismembering and reordering crosses over into an essential activity of the studio. His work spans a diverse range of artistic media such as drawing, performance, film, printmaking, sculpture and painting. Kentridge has also directed a number of acclaimed operas and theatrical productions and is the recipient of honorary doctorates from several universities including Yale and the University of London. Recent major exhibitions of his work have been shown at MFA Houston, Texas (2023); The Broad Museum, Los Angeles (2022); the Royal Academy, London (2022); Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland (2019). Kentridge has participated in Documenta (2012, 2002, 1997) as well as the Venice Biennale (2015, 2005, 1999 and 1993).

Follow the artist on Instagram @williamkentridgestudio and visit his website at www.kentridge.studio.

An award-winning public arts curator and producer, Debra Simon has more than 30 years of experience in visual and performing arts programming for civic organizations, the real estate industry, and other companies. While working at the Downtown Alliance, she created the Music at Castle Clinton concert series, Dine Around Downtown, and co-founded the River-to-River Festival in 2002. As the Director of Times Square Arts, Simon oversaw Midnight Moment, the world’s largest digital art exhibition on electronic billboards, and the annual Valentine Heart design competition, among other projects for the over 300,000 daily visitors to Times Square. As Artistic Director at Brookfield Properties, she led a national arts program that planned and executed multi-disciplinary programming, presenting over 500 free events annually in New York, Denver, Los Angeles, and Houston. Collaborations with artists, architects, landscape designers, local arts organizations, and presenting partners have contributed to her expertise in creating and reimagining public spaces. Current clients include Amtrak, Taconic Partners, Hudson Yard Hell’s Kitchen Alliance, Fifth Avenue Association, and Third Street Music School Settlement. For more information, visit Debra Simon Art Consulting. Simon is collaborating with producer Common Ground Arts to realize Art at Amtrak. Visit dsimonartconsulting.com for more information.

See the current installation of Art at Amtrak.