No Limits: Alexandre Arrechea’s Distorted Architectural Landmarks

no limits alexandre arrecheas

In 2013, a series of ten large sculptures of steel and aluminum were installed on New York’s Park Avenue Malls by Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea. The installations transformed and distorted several of the city’s architectural landmarks and monuments that when built represented the power of their patrons as well as the prowess of the architects.

No Limits: Alexandre Arrechea’s Distorted Architectural Landmarks

The project titled “No Limits” was also accompanied by the artist’s watercolors and smaller versions of the sculptures inspired by the project shown later in this post.

artist alexandre arrecheas
photo of the artist atop his Chrysler sculpture by Oliver Morris

Altering and manipulating such recognizable icons as New York’s Chrysler Building and the Flatiron Building into malleable, sinuous silhouettes transforms our own perspective. The sculptures raise questions about the role of architecture and its relation to power and control.

Alexandre Arrechea, Chrysler Building, detail, 2013
Alexandre Arrechea, Chrysler Building, detail, 2013
Alexandre Arrechea, Park Ave watercolor of the No Limits project
Alexandre Arrechea, Park Ave watercolor of the No Limits project
architectural sculptures by Alexandre Arrechea
Smaller versions of the sculptures by the artist

The sculptures, which appeared to roll, wind, and spin their way down Park Avenue from 53rd to 67th Street, reached towering heights of up to 20 feet. Below are images of each.

The Empire State Building, Fifth Avenue and 34th Street (Shreve, Lamb and Harmon), Materials · Stainless steel, Dimensions · 449.6 x 294.6 x 28.6 cm:
empire state building sculpture by Alexandre Arrechea

The Helmsley Building (built in 1929 as the New York Central Building and designed by Warren & Wetmore), Materials · Stainless steel, Dimensions · 449.6 x 441.3 x 80 cm:
Helmsley Building sculpture by Alexandre Arrechea

The Chrysler Building from Lexington and 42nd Street (designed by William Van Allen), Materials · Stainless steel, Dimensions · 452.1 x 194 x 27.3 cm:
distorted chrysler building Alexandre Arrechea

The MetLife Building (built in 1958-63 as the Pam Am Building, designed by Emery Roth & Sons, Pietro Belluschi and Walter Gropius), Materials · Stainless steel, steel, Dimensions · 400.1 x 383.2 x 67.3 cm:
Met ife building art Alexandre Arrechea

The Sherry Netherland Hotel from Fifth Avenue and 59th Street (designed by Schultze & Weaver with Buchman & Kahn), Materials · Stainless steel, Dimensions · 449.6 x 441.3 x 40 cm:
sherry netherland hotel distorted by Alexandre Arrechea

The MetLife insurance Tower, Madison Avenue and 23rd Street (Napoleon Le Brun & Sons), Materials · Foam, polyurethane, steel, Dimensions · 500.4 x 172.7 x 26.7 cm:
public sculptures ny Alexandre Arrechea

The Seagram Building (designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson), Materials · Steel, Dimensions · 600.1 x 287 x 102.9 cm:
seagram building art installation Alexandre Arrechea

The Citigroup Center from Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street (designed by Hugh Stubbins, Jr.), Materials · Foam, polyurethane, steel, Dimensions · 500.4 x 172.7 x 52.1 cm. 433 Kg:
citigroup center art by Alexandre Arrechea

The United States Court House from Foley Square (Cass Gilbert), Materials · Aluminum, steel, Dimensions · 600.1 x 129.5 x 95.9 cm:
US Court House No limites Alexandre Arrechea

The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, at 175 Fifth Avenue (architects Daniel Burnham and Frederick P. Dinkelberg), Materials · Aluminum, Dimensions · 549.9 x 198.1 x 24.8 cm:
Flatiron building sculpture Alexandre Arrechea

The gallery exhibition of the accompanying artist’s watercolors and smaller versions of the sculptures:

Alexandre Arrechea No Limits exhibit

gallery view No Limits: Alexandre Arrechea

Alexandre Arrechea no limits

Gallery exhibition No limits Alexandre Arrechea

distorted NY Landmarks

No Limits Alexandre Arrechea art

flatiron building sculpture by Alexandre Arrechea

contemporary sculpture by Alexandre Arrechea

no limits art show ny

sculpture by Alexandre Arrechea

Art Critic Lowery Stokes Sims says of the artist’s work:
“The roots of his preoccupations are certainly the Cuba within which he grew up (he was born in 1970) which would give him a heightened sensitivity to the propaganda potential of even ordinary objects, to how symbols may be elevated beyond their intrinsic worth, and how we need to read between the lines in the messages we absorb every day. Architecture is an easy target for such modes of expression. Every society has used structures and sites, however permanent or ephemeral, to order, control and propagandize populations. The result is that public spaces and structures can assume almost mythic reputations that are a result of the activities that occurred within their walls. The Reichstag in Berlin, the so-called Tombs in New York City, the Pretoria Court House, the Tower of London, the Bastille: all of these buildings retain reputations as sites of oppression and suppression for the purpose of maintaining control. And there are also sites such as Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, which was the subject of a 2012 video installation (The Empty Plaza/ La Plaza Vacia) by Arrechea’s countryman artist Coco Fusco, which featured an extended meditation on the psychological and situational aura of the space as the site of “revolutionary promise, and memory.” (source)

Artist Alexandre Arrechea
Artist Alexandre Arrechea

Alexandre Arrechea

Follow him on on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/alexandrearrechea/

all images courtesy of the artist