Chris Doyle’s The Lightening on View at Wave Hill, April 24–May 24, 2015
In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Wave Hill announces a groundbreaking installation by acclaimed interdisciplinary artist Chris Doyle, commissioned to honor this milestone in the institution’s history. Doyle’s large-scale, site-specific work, entitled The Lightening: a Project for Wave Hill’s Aquatic Garden, infuses this serene space with an electrifying group of sculptures containing animation, light and sound. This dynamic, multimedia work pays homage to the intersection of horticulture and art—a feature that distinguishes Wave Hill as a landscape of complex, dynamic beauty.
Inspired by the Aquatic Garden’s water lilies and reflective surfaces, The Lightening provides an electrifying experience during daylight and at night. Three faceted structures hover over the water, their mirrored surfaces reflecting the garden and pool in daylight. As evening approaches, they glow with light and animation inspired by life above the water, the reflective surface and the life below. A soundscape created by innovative composer Jeremy Turner, performed by members of the renowned Brooklyn Youth Chorus, emanates from each structure, amplifying the immersive effect of the installation.
“We are extremely pleased to be able to collaborate with the supremely talented Brooklyn Youth Chorus,” comments Claudia Bonn, President and Executive Director of Wave Hill. Turner’s original composition will be performed by members of the Chorus; the layering of low, medium and high voices produces a tonal effect, infusing The Lightening and the landscape around it with a uniquely human presence. The title of the installation itself, Doyle explains, references this very convergence of nature and the human spirit: “The Lightening,” he says, “is that moment in spring when the sky starts to lighten, and the days lengthen. Spirits are lifted.” In this moment, he continues, “The Lightening begins to glow.”
Concurrent with The Lightening is Chris Doyle: Landscape Fictions, an exhibition of Doyle’s animations and light boxes in Wave Hill’s Glyndor Gallery. Doyle's ongoing investigation of landscape and culture is evident in the three animations exhibited, "Bright Canyon" (commissioned for the Midnight Moment by the Times Square Alliance), "Apocalypse Management," and the award-winning "Waste_Generation."
A recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection Prize, Chris Doyle explores the way that human anxieties and collective attitudes about the environment are projected through representations of landscape. His work has been exhibited at numerous national and international venues, including the Brooklyn Museum, Queens Museum of Art, P.S.1 Museum of Contemporary Art and MassMoCA.
The Lightening is on view from April 24 to May 24. The grounds and installation are open to the public on Thursday, Friday and Sunday evenings, during Night Lights at Wave Hill. For more information on Night Lights, see below.
Wave Hill, an internationally celebrated public garden and cultural center, fosters human connections to the natural world. Its numerous garden ‘rooms’ and magnificent views of the Hudson River and Palisades inspire personal, artistic and horticultural reflection. The Visual Arts Program at Wave Hill presents the work of contemporary artists who explore the dynamic relationship between nature, culture and site through exhibitions in Glyndor Gallery and the Sunroom Project Space, and through the Winter Workspace Program and generated@wavehill.
Night Lights at Wave Hill is open to the public on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays from April 24–May 24, from 6:30–9:30PM. During these spring evenings, the public is invited to explore the gardens, to experience Doyle’s immersive installation and exhibition inside Glyndor Gallery, and indulge in delightful offerings from The Shop and The Café. Night Lights at Wave Hill also features live piano music in Wave Hill House’s Mark Twain Room.
Tickets will be available starting March 4, online and onsite at the Perkins Visitor Center. Same-Day Tickets: $25/$20 Wave Hill Member/$12 children; purchase in advance and save $2. Tickets available starting March 4, online and onsite.
The arts at Wave Hill are supported by the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, The New York Community Trust, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and by the Cathy and Stephen Weinroth Commissioning Fund for the Arts.
Wave Hill, Inc. is an independent, non-profit cultural institution governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. The buildings and grounds of Wave Hill are owned by the City of New York. With the assistance of the Bronx Borough President and Bronx representatives in the City Council and State Legislature, Wave Hill’s operations are supported with public funds through theNew York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the Zoos, Botanical Gardens and Aquariums Grant Program administered by theNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; and the New York State Council on the Arts.
Night Lights at Wave Hill
HOURS
Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, April 24–May 24, 6:30–9:30PM
ADMISSION
Same-Day Tickets: $25/$20 Wave Hill Member/$12 children. Purchase in advance and save $2. No refunds or exchanges. All sales final. Tickets available starting March 4, online and onsite.
DIRECTIONS
Getting here is easy! Located only 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan, Wave Hill’s free shuttle van transports you to and from our front gate and Metro-North’s Riverdale station, the W. 242 St. stop on the #1 subway line, and to and from our free offsite parking lot. Limited onsite parking is available for $8 per vehicle. Complete directions and shuttle van schedule at wavehill.org.
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