Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) and Albright-Knox Art Gallery today revealed world-famous artist Robert Indiana’s NUMBERS ONE through ZERO sculptures on temporary exhibition at Buffalo’s Outer Harbor. The 10 eight-foot-high COR-TEN steel sculptures, weighing close to 2,000 pounds apiece, are placed at Wilkeson Pointe and will be on loan until October 2019. The ECHDC board previously approved a contract with the Albright-Knox Art Gallery (AKAG) which facilitated the loan and exhibition of this monumental work of public art. See pictures of the sculptures here. The Wilkeson Pointe installation coincides with the new exhibition Robert Indiana: A Sculpture Retrospective at the Albright-Knox, which is on view until September 23, 2018.
“We are beyond lucky to host these bold, iconic sculptures by Robert Indiana at Wilkeson Pointe,” said Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation Chairman Robert Gioia. “When Governor Cuomo announced the Outer Harbor land transfer in 2013, it was just the beginning of a transformative change that would make the property more accessible, active and attractive. NUMBERS ONE through ZERO will bring more people to the Outer Harbor to appreciate both the art, as well as the natural beauty of our waterfront.”
“We are delighted by the opportunity, through this collaboration with ECHDC, to bring such extraordinary public art to the residents of Buffalo and Erie County,” said Albright-Knox Deputy Director Joe Lin-Hill. “This partnership has facilitated extending our current exhibition, Robert Indiana: A Sculpture Retrospective, beyond the museum and into our community, and for that we are very grateful. Visitors to Wilkeson Pointe will have the chance to enjoy Indiana’s work in a serene, natural setting, and we hope they will be inspired to discover more about this important American artist this summer at the Albright-Knox.”
These works of art are situated where millions of dollars of investment has occurred at the Outer Harbor. Wilkeson Pointe is an ideal location, as it has ample space to accommodate Indiana’s work while maintaining public access. NUMBERS ONE through ZERO will enhance the landscape and serve as an exciting feature at Wilkeson Pointe, one of the Outer Harbor’s most popular and active public spaces.
The Albright-Knox is an internationally renowned art institution that has an established public art initiative in Erie County, which places artwork throughout the community, including the famous Shark Girl at Canalside. The Albright-Knox is facilitating the loan of Robert Indiana’s NUMBERS ONE through ZERO to ECHDC and is providing ECHDC with institutional knowledge and support about the project. Robert Indiana: A Sculpture Retrospective has been made possible through the generosity of M&T Bank. Additional support has been provided by the sponsors of the Summer of AK.
Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz said, “Any type of unique event or special exhibit that can help bring more visitors to the Outer Harbor is welcome here in Erie County, especially if it is something that helps to promote public art. I applaud the collaborative efforts of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and personally look forward to seeing NUMBERS ONE through ZERO at Wilkeson Pointe and more of Indiana’s unique sculptures the next time I visit Albright Knox.”
City of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said, “Development and beautification continues at Buffalo’s Outer Harbor. I'm pleased to see artist Robert Indiana’s NUMBERS ONE through ZERO sculptures are installed at Wilkeson Pointe through October 2019. I thank Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation and Albright-Knox for their dedication to our waterfront, attracting our residents and visitors year-round.”
Senator Tim Kennedy said, “Buffalo’s Outer Harbor continues to attract thousands of people not only because of its stunning views and accessible trails, but because of partnerships like these. Robert Indiana's exhibition will offer Buffalonians and visitors the opportunity explore our waterfront in a new and interactive way.”
Assemblyman Sean Ryan said, “The Outer Harbor has become an area where friends and families come together to enjoy our beautiful waterfront, and I can’t think of a better place for these amazing sculptures to be displayed. The Albright-Knox Public Art Initiative has done great work in bringing several iconic pieces to Buffalo, and I applaud what they’ve done in cooperation with ECHDC to bring these sculptures to the Outer Harbor for everyone to enjoy.”
Robert Indiana (American, 1928–2018) is considered one of the preeminent figures in American art since the 1960s. He has played a crucial role in the development of assemblage art, hardedge painting, and Pop art. A self-proclaimed “American painter of signs,” Indiana has created a highly original body of work that explores American identity, personal history, and the power of abstraction and language, establishing an important legacy that resonates in the work of many contemporary artists who make the written word a central element of their practice.
Along with words, most notably “love,” numbers are one of the most frequently reoccurring motifs in the art of Robert Indiana. As art historian and curator Barbara Haskell explains, “Numbers had appeared in Indiana’s work even before words, functioning variously as the abstract ‘names’ of his anthropomorphic herms, as metaphors for the passage of time, and as reminders of vernacular American culture.” Several suites of paintings in the 1960s and 1970s—including The Numbers (1965) and Decade Autoportraits (1972-1976)—were significant precedents for the monumental sculptures of NUMBERS ONE through ZERO.
Indiana has stated that each number represents a stage of life, beginning with One (birth) and continuing through Nine (old age) and Zero (death). According to renowned art historian John Wilmerding, Indiana’s numbers can be considered akin to nineteenth-century artist Thomas Cole’s series of paintings on the ages of man.
Indiana’s artwork has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world, and his works are in the permanent collections of institutions including the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, the National Gallery of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Menil Collection in Houston, and many more.
For more information on NUMBERS ONE through ZERO, visit Robert Indiana’s website.
About Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation
The ECHDC is governed by a nine-member board consisting of seven voting directors and two non-voting, ex-officio directors. The seven voting directors are recommended by the New York State Governor and are appointed by the New York State Urban Development Corporation d/b/a Empire State Development as sole shareholder of ECHDC. The two nonvoting, ex-officio director positions are held by the Erie County Executive and the City of Buffalo Mayor.
As a subsidiary of Empire State Development, the state’s chief economic development agency, the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation supports and promotes the creation of infrastructure and public activities at Canalside, the Ohio Street corridor and the Outer Harbor that is attracting critical mass, private investment and enhance the enjoyment of the waterfront for residents and tourists in Western New York. Its vision is to revitalize Western New York’s waterfront and restore economic growth to Buffalo based on the region’s legacy of pride, urban significance and natural beauty. For more information on ECHDC, visit www.eriecanalharbor.com.
About Albright-Knox Public Art Initiative
The Public Art Initiative is an innovative partnership between the Albright-Knox and Erie County established in 2013. The City of Buffalo joined the partnership in 2014. The goal of the Initiative is to create spaces of dialogue where diverse communities have the ability to engage, respond, and cooperatively produce great public art that can empower individuals, create stronger neighborhoods, and establish Western New York as a vital cultural center.
Learn more about recent Albright-Knox Public Art Initiative projects here.
Contacts:
Laura Magee | [email protected] | 716-846-8239 | (800) 260-7313
Maria Scully-Morreale | [email protected] | 716-270-8229 | 716-866-7344