About the Exhibition
Orange Tree, Alexandre Arrechea’s large-scale sculpture of a metal tree sprouting basketball hoops and surrounded by basketballs, has been exhibited in New York, Philadelphia, and Shanghai. Pepsi-Cola incorporated Orange Tree as part of the company’s “Bronx Flavor Campaign,” an initiative designed to promote awareness of health issues in the Bronx borough of New York. Referencing found objects, architecture, nature, and imagery from popular culture, Arrechea creates work that is engaging and provocative, accessible, and profound. Designed for outdoor, public space, Orange Tree is a sculptural exploration of the relationship between sports and urban street culture.
About the artist
Born in 1970 in Trinidad, Cuba, Alexandre Arrechea is one of the most renowned Cuban artists working today. After graduating from the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana in 1994, he was part of the Los Carpinteros art group until 2003. Since then, his own multi-media works–sculpture, video, and installation art–have been exhibited in museums, galleries, and public venues all over the world. Black Sun, a 3-D video projection of a wrecking ball, was installed in Times Square in 2010. Next year, a new body of work by Arrechea will be presented in New York as the 2013 Park Avenue Mall Projects. This prestigious art program installs works of art in the medians along Park Avenue in New York City annually; the roster of prestigious artists commissioned by New York City’s Art in the Parks for this program includes Fernando Botero, Will Ryman, Yoshimoto Nara, Bryan Hunt, Bernar Venet, and others.
