Manhattan’s High Line Sprouts A Hot Pink Tree In Time For The Summer
Manhattan’s High Line Plinth is gearing up for a bright summer this year with a new addition of a 25-foot-tall tree in a marvelous shade of red and pink.
The Old Tree was the work of Pamela Rosenkranz and featured 16 limbs, six roots, and 145 branches in total, all of which were crafted just outside San Diego and brought to New York via two trucks. Rosenkranz applied seven layers of red and pink paint to the branches, and topped them off with a clear UV coating. The tree was then assembled on site, slowly growing bit by bit until it fully bloomed. Rosenkranz even transformed the surface of the plinth to resemble the feeling of the earth beneath one’s feet.
View this post on Instagram
From afar, the bright pink hue stands out against the backdrop of commercial buildings on the west side of Manhattan. Yet, looking at it against a blue sky, one cannot help but notice how close the tree looks to the network of blood vessels rooted in our bodies.
The first piece of art commissioned for the plinth was in 2019 with Brick House by Simone Leigh, a 16-foot-tall bronze statue of a Black lady presiding over New York. This was then followed by Sam Durant’s Untitled (drone). Both pieces had been black and white. Cecilia Alemani, director and chief curator of High Line Art, noted to Artnet News that the tree adds a little bit of life and color to a cold, corporate, and masculine backdrop.
View this post on Instagram
The Old Tree is now up for viewing at the High Line at the Spur on West 30th and 10th Avenue, New York, until September 2024.
[via Artnet News and Hyperallergic, Photo 108768294 © Lukas Bischoff | Dreamstime.com]
