Storylights August 19, 2011

In celebration of The New York Public Library's 100th birthday, artist Katherine Jackson has created Storylights a series of three site-specific exhibitions with the first one presented in the new reading room on the first floor. The title, Storylights, conveys the dual nature of libraries: physical structures (“stories”) housing the most intangible realities, and the endlessly proliferating “stories” we humans tell ourselves. The exhibition consists of edge-lit and back lit etched glass pieces. The new work includes large scale abstract images, inspired by physical elements of Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, and NYPL's architectural digital library. The other aspect of the exhibition is the text-based work -- which tell or hint at stories, many of which are described below -- along with images of the Manhattan Bridge. All the pieces are lit with LED or fluorescent lights. The effect is to suggest the bringing together (“bridging”) of the luminous world of the imagination and the outer world of steel, stone and light.

http://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/storylights