Rachel Whiteread Water Tower
Originally presented at West Broadway & Grand Street
About the Exhibition
Water Tower, a translucent resin cast of the interior of a 12-foot tall by 9-foot wide wooden water tank by Rachel Whiteread (b. 1963, London, England) was raised 7 stories to rest upon the steel tower frame of a SoHo rooftop. Water Tower is visible from street level at the corner of West Broadway and Grand Street. Situated near two functioning water tanks, it was described by the artist as a “jewel in the Manhattan skyline.” On a cloudy day, the weathered surface of the original tank’s interior is visible, providing a ghostly form. In bright sunlight the translucent resin becomes a beacon of refracted light; at night the unlit sculpture disappears against the darkened sky. Poetic yet incongruous, Whiteread’s Water Tower powerfully represents a need for public sculpture to be physically present yet ephemeral.
Water Tower is now in the permanent collection of the The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Photo Gallery
Location
Originally presented at West Broadway & Grand Street
Originally presented at West Broadway & Grand Street
Rachel Whiteread’s Water Tower was sponsored through Beck’s New York Arts Program. It was also made possible through the support of the Charles Engelhard Foundation, Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro, Werner H. and Sarah-Ann Kramarsky, The Silverweed Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs Cultural Challenge Initiative, and friends of the Public Art Fund.
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