British sculptor Antony Gormley unveiled a new installation in Brooklyn, as part of a series of global arts projects funded by the wildly popular boyband, the K-pop act BTS.
Gormley is part of a roster of 22 artists funded by Korean pop group BTS to showcase their work at galleries and landmarks in five cities across the globe. The project known as Connect, BTS began in London on 14 January, with dates in Berlin, Buenos Aires, New York City and Seoul scheduled throughout 2020.
While the project is being funded by BTS, it doesn't actually feature the band or any BTS-themed installations. According to the Connect, BTS website, the project was developed by the Korean curator Daehyung Lee, alongside a team of international artists who "resonated with BTS' philosophy" with an aim to "redefine the relationship between art and music, the material and immaterial, artists and their audience, artists and artists, theory and practice."
In London, the ecological exhibition Catharsis is currently on display in the Serpentine Gallery until 15 March, a digital stimulation of an old-growth forest by the Danish artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen. Near Buenos Aires, there's a climate emergency-themed installation from Argentine artist Tomás Saraceno running in Salinas Grandes until 22 March, in which a person floats through the air aided solely by solar power.
Seoul is hosting a reservation-only installation from Belgian artist Anne Veronica Janseens, and another from local artist Yiyan Kang in the DDP Design Exhibition Hall until 20 March. Berlin's showcase in the Martin-Gropius-Bau featured performances by 17 international artists and ran until 2 February. While, New York unveiled its piece of the Connect, BTS puzzle last week: Gormley's New York Clearing, 18-kilometres of aluminium coils, with no visible beginning or ending, over Brooklyn Bridge Park.
With a global fanbase of millions of young, loyal followers, known as the BTS Army, the project is seen as an opportunity to connect new audiences with experimental and contemporary art. You can find out more about Connect, BTS here.
