Art to be projected on outside of restored Guggenheim
Last Updated: Monday, September 22, 2008 | 1:05 PM ET
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Architect Frank Lloyd Wright looks over his spiral-shaped design for the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 1945. (Associated Press)New York's distinctive Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum celebrates the completion of a $29-million US restoration Monday with an art installation focused on the exterior of the building.
The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building, famous for its spiral shape, had been suffering from exterior cracks and corroding steel support beams.
But a three-year project has restored its smooth white exterior, creating a blank canvas for a new art installation by American conceptual artist Jenny Holzer.
At 6.45 p.m. on Monday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg will throw the switch on the installation.
Holzer, known for her use of words in public spaces including stone benches, walls and LED displays, plans a play of light and large-scale text across the Guggenheim.
Her writings and numerous poems will cycle over the curved surface of the museum walls, in a light projection installation created specifically for this event.
It will be repeated every Friday at the Guggenheim until year's end, with an encore performance New Year's Eve.
"I am so happy that the Guggenheim has invited me to project on Wright's perfect building," said Holzer in a statement released Monday.
The Guggenheim first showed Holzer's light projections in 1989 on its interior walls, and several of its branches have collected her work.
"It was an honour to hang text inside 20 years ago, and working with the museum's great face is the best possible return," Holzer added.
Her work has also been projected on the exterior of the New York Public Library.
The museum had been enclosed in scaffolding since September 2005 as a team of architects and engineers worked to repair the landmark building without interfering with Wright's original concept.
The $29-million cost of the restoration, completed in July, was covered by benefactor Peter B. Lewis, the City of New York and the Guggenheim foundation.
The 50th anniversary of the building is set for 2009.
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