VISTO was appointed by Olayan Group to lead the art curation for the renovation of the historic AT&T, then Sony building in Midtown Manhattan, originally designed by Philip Johnson as his first Postmodern building in the early 1980s. The principal component of the project was the selection of an artist for a site-specific commission for the multi-tenant office building's lobby. VISTO's goal was to propose artists whose ambition and deep thought matched those of the building's architecture and whose proposal would become a symbol for the future building.
Carved from a single, 25-ton block of brilliant blue Azul do Macaubas and suspended with ten stainless-steel chains, Alicja Kwade’s Solid Sky investigates the planet, the universe, and our existence within them.
Solid Sky pays homage to the oculus motif present in Philip Johnson's iconic 550 Madison design, from the interior window above to the Chippendale crown outside. An elegant feat of engineering, Solid Sky’s precise geometries and balance dialogue with the classical intricacies in Johnson’s architecture.