Outdoor Sculpture in New York

Explore outdoor works across New York City by Rashid Johnson, Larry Bell, Mika Rottenberg and Jeffrey Gibson

Outdoor Sculpture in New York

Explore outdoor works across New York City by Rashid Johnson, Larry Bell, Mika Rottenberg and Jeffrey Gibson

Friday 17 October

Experience outdoor artworks by Rashid Johnson, Larry Bell, Mika Rottenberg and Jeffrey Gibson throughout New York City, including monumental bronzes and interactive installations. Rashid Johnson opens his Guggenheim Museum exhibition ‘A Poem for Deep Thinkers,’ his largest presentation to date, with a steel outdoor sculpture that welcomes viewers into the famous rotunda. Visitors to Madison Square Park will explore Larry Bell’s first public art commission in New York City, spanning the entirety of the park and changing in appearance as the seasonal light changes. Visit the High Line to activate Mika Rottenberg’s sculpture ‘Foot Fountain (pink),’ which shoots water from a spout at the top when people activate the pedals nearby. Uptown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jeffrey Gibson presents the 2025 Genesis Facade Commission ‘The Animal That Therefore I Am’ that adorns the building’s exterior with four animals that are commonly found in the nearby Central Park.

Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers
On view at the Guggenheim Museum through 19 January 2026

As part of his major solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum, Rashid Johnson has installed ‘Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos’ (2008) at the institution’s entrance. The large steel sculpture with graphic design–inspired trim lines and gun-scope references Jasper Johns’ target works. Directly influenced by hiphop pioneer Public Enemy, the piece invites the viewer to question who is in control.

Larry Bell, Improvisations in the Park, on view 30 September 2025 – 15 March 2026. All works in the exhibition are courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Anthony Meier Fine Arts. Commissioned by Madison Square Park Conservancy. Photo: Timothy Schenck

Larry Bell: ‘Improvisations in the Park’
On view at Madison Square Park through 15 March 2026

In ‘Improvisations in the Park,’ Light and Space pioneer Larry Bell transforms New York’s Madison Square Park with luminous glass sculptures that shifts with light, weather and season. This installation marks Bell’s first public commission in New York and activates six lawns across Madison Square Park with vibrantly colored cubes and nested arrangements.

Each month through December, join Tiera Ndlovu, Assistant Curator, for a free 15-minute tour of Bell’s work. You can learn more and register for the tour our your choice by clicking the link here.

Mika Rottenberg, Foot Fountain (pink), 2024. A High Line Commission. On view April 2025 – May 2026. Photo: Tim Schenck. Courtesy of the High Line

Mika Rottenberg: Foot Fountain (pink)
On view at The High Line through May 2026

For the High Line, Rottenberg presents ‘Foot Fountain (pink)’—a ten-foot-tall pink foot and lower leg topped with a working sprinkler, activated by nearby pedals. Originally created for Museum Tinguely in Basel, the sculpture reimagines classical fountains with playful absurdity—nurturing not just land, but people passing by.

Jeffrey Gibson, Installation view of they teach us to be sensitive and to trust our instincts issi / awi / deer, for The Genesis Facade Commission: Jeffrey Gibson, The Animal Therefore I Am, 2025 © Jeffrey Gibson. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo: Eugenia Burnett Tinsley

The Genesis Facade Commission: Jeffrey Gibson, The Animal That Therefore I Am
On view at Metropolitan Museum of Art through 9 June 2026

Acclaimed artist Jeffrey Gibson invites reflection on the interconnected relationships between all living beings and the environment for the 2025 Genesis Facade Commission. Standing nearly 10 feet tall, each bronze sculpture reimagines current or recent residents in Central Park as vivid, upright figures that blur the line between animal and human. Both playful and profound, they invite reflection on nature, culture and ceremony.