Art in the Heart of Downtown

 by Barry Owens

When in the spring of 2000 Chris Doyle projected a 30-minute video loop called Leap onto the façade of a building at Columbus Circle, crowds saw a continuous stream of larger-than-life New Yorkers jumping for joy straight up the building wall. The work explored the nature of instant celebrity as those previously unknown figures achieved a fleeting fame for no other reason than appearing in billboard size on the side of a building.

Untitled, 1984, by Futura 2000

Now Doyle has a new and similar work, We Will Again Be Optimists. This time his figures will appear to scale the architectural details and leap from the murals inside 48 Wall Street where it debuts Oct. 22, as part of “Art Downtown: Connecting Collections.” Organizers hope that fame, this time, will play a role in drawing crowds to a neighborhood still feeling the effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.


The exhibit, meant to highlight the interrelationships of the arts, features works selected and contributed by guest curators, each of them famous in their fields: Mikhail Baryshnikov (dance); Danny Simmons (visual art); Diane Von Furstenberg (fashion); Robert Wilson (theater) and Russell Simmons (music).

The show is the brainchild of Julie Menin, founder of Wall Street Rising, which is trying to return vibrancy to Lower Manhattan, in part by redefining the area as a cultural destination.

The guest curators of “Connecting Collections” have paired works in their own collections with selections they’ve made from the Deutsche Bank Art Collection, a catalog of more than 50,000 works displayed in the bank’s branches worldwide.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1982, by Warhol
Untitled, 1978, by Sigmar Polke

Artist activist Danny Simmons, along with his brother Russell, a hip hop impresario, will juxtapose artworks in their collection, like the abstract sculptures of Simone Leigh and the graffiti work of “aerosol artist” Meres, with artists from the Deutsch Bank collection such as Mark Dean Veca, Takashi Murkamie, Bernd Zimmer and Futura 2000.

Others selected from their own works or tapped the talents of others to provide a connection. Diane Von Furstenberg teamed up with video artist Miwa Yanagi, who got her start as a textile designer. And Mikhail Baryshnikov tapped Doyle for the video piece that will dance along the walls.

On a separate floor, artist and set designer Robert Wilson will display more than 40 of his own works, including sculptural objects and furniture pieces.

Menin hopes that the installations will help counter the troubling images just outside the doors.

“Often, I think, when people come down here now they see the security, the obstacles, the street closings and have a hard time getting past that,” she said. “This is a way to show the other side of Lower Manhattan.”

On Wall Street, a volunteer leaps for Chris Doyle as part of his new work, We Will Again Be Optimists. Photo: Allan Tannenbaum

The exhibition will be on view at 48 Wall Street, Oct. 22–Dec. 10, Tues–Fri 11am to 7pm and 12–5pm on weekends. All events and exhibits are free.