Giant Monolith Transforms Rockefeller Center: See It

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Rockefeller Center's newest public art installation, revealed this week, is a campus-wide exhibition including murals, flags and a giant sculpture facing Fifth Avenue.

The takeover by the artist Sanford Biggers was unveiled Wednesday. Its centerpiece is "Oracle," a 25-foot-bronze sculpture that sits at the Fifth Avenue entrance to the Channel Gardens plaza.

Part of a series by Biggers, a New York-based artist, the sculpture is a fusion of African masks and European figures, exploring "historical depictions of the body and their subsequent myths, narratives, perceptions and power," according to a news release.

Other components include replacing Rockefeller Center's iconic flags with new, illustrated designs by Biggers; a set of murals displayed around the complex, including a 125-foot-mural in the concourse area; and a virtual guide that helps visitors navigate the show.

Biggers's works will remain on view until June 29. It is the first-ever campus-wide survey that Rockefeller Center has commissioned.

"I've always been intrigued by Rockefeller Center for its architectural history and mythological references," Biggers said in a statement. "Rockefeller Center is an ideal context for myth creation and allows me to experiment with this approach."

Biggers, who was a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, has recently been featured in solo exhibitions at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (2018), the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (2016), the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (2012) and the Brooklyn Museum (2011).

Read more about the exhibition on the Rockefeller Center website.