SIMUL: A Signature Piece for the Viaduct's 125th Street Arch

SIMUL, a signature art installation to be beneath under the Riverside Drive Viaduct at 125th Street, will play as a double metaphor. It’s connecting Harlem to the wider New York, as well as bringing local residents together under the bridge. SIMUL intertwines with the bridge, and at the center is the meeting point of the tubing system, which can be called the nucleus of the piece. The center could be described as an intermingling of tubes, which is meant to represent how, although the people are all different, the city is one interconnected community. Everyone who lives in the city, even short-time visitors, is a New Yorker.

The New York City grid is structured and organized with each neighborhood having its own charm and identity. The segments are all connected to create the city we know and love. This piece was inspired by that intercon- nectivity. The piece will be titled ‘SIMUL’, which is Latin for togetherness. I aim to create a sense of togetherness in the wider NYC area, while simultaneously bringing together the locals in the neighborhood.

As a Peruvian-American light artist, Grimanesa Amorós finds her inspiration in the synthesis of two different cultures. She never gets isolated from the history of her home country and continues to make use of this heritage when creating her artworks. Backed by the Peruvian legacy, Grimanesa’s style of conveying emotions and researching locations makes her installations world-famous. Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Paolo Soleri Bridge in Arizona, CAFA museum in China, Times Square, multiple places in Hong Kong, Madrid and Tel Aviv are only a few of the many locations which feature fascinating light installations of Grimanesa Amorós. You can find her works in almost all parts of the world, including Latin America and Asia. In 2016, Ludwig Museum presented a traveling exhibition and monograph of the artist’s work.

Nowadays, Grimanesa often gets invited to talk about critical theory, social history, and other cultural aspects at numerous universities and institutions, such as Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Parsons, Tongji University, Rutgers University, and American University of Dubai. In 2014, she was one of the speakers at TEDGlobal where she dwelled on landscapes and the latest technology in art.

Throughout the Grimanesa’s artistic career, her artworks have been discussed by Forbes Magazine, Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times. She has also been featured in several publications such as Surface Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and New York Magazine.

For more information, visit the artist’s webpage for this project here