iván navarro: heaven or las vegas

‘heaven or las vegas’ by iván navarro images by mark markin / courtesy of paul kasmin gallery

iván navarro: heaven or las vegas paul kasmin gallery, new york march 3rd to april 2nd, 2011

brooklyn based, chilean artist, iván navarro has created ‘heaven or las vegas’ a collection of neon light wall sculptures that are built from the floor plans of twelve of the world’s most iconic skyscrapers, including the flatiron building in new york and the jumeirah emirates towers in dubai.

‘rhyme, rival’ (jumeirah emirates towers, dubai)

chosen not only for their ambitious innovations in engineering and design, but also for their historical relevance and influence, the series features western-style structures that range in scale and span the world.

‘rhyme, rival’ (jumeirah emirates towers, dubai)

through a positioned play of mirrors and light, viewers have the experience of looking up into the interior volumes and contours of each building. suspended within each piece is a simple phrase – such as surrender or abandon – which echo, like subtle commands through the illusory depth of each object. 

untitled (sears tower, chicago)

installation view of empire state building and ‘burden’ (lotte world tower, busan, south korea)

untitled (empire state building, new york city)

detail of empire state building

untitled (twin towers, new york city)

‘desert’ (columbia center, seattle)

‘want’ (citic plaza, guangzhou, china)

detail of ‘want’

‘sway’ (grand gateway, shanghai, china)

‘plunder’

detail of ‘plunder’

‘shelter’ (the center, hong kong)

detail of ‘shelter’

‘decay’ (lake point tower, chicago)

detail of ‘decay’