ATLANTA, GA.- The High Museum of Art continues its innovative multiyear initiative to animate its outdoor space with “Merry Go Zoo” (June 24 through Nov. 26, 2017), a new interactive installation by Spanish designer Jaime Hayon on The Woodruff Arts Center’s Carroll Slater Sifly Piazza.
Inspired to create a playful, 21st-century version of an outdoor public sculpture, Hayon designed four large-scale, vibrantly colored, kinetic structures for “Merry Go Zoo.” The structures feature a round metal-and-wood base topped by an animal-shaped polyurethane sculpture. Visitors are able to interact with the structures either by spinning on the base or by rotating the sculpture. The installation transforms the piazza into a playground and summer refuge that offers a welcoming atmosphere for socializing and recreation. The installation will also become the stage for performances, art-making activities and special events coorganized with local partner institutions.
“The incredibly talented Jaime Hayon has envisioned a dynamic, engaging and joyful setting that extends the Museum’s reach outdoors and invites visitors to experience art in an interactive way,” said Sarah Schleuning, the High’s decorative arts and design curator.
“Jaime’s vision has once again re-imagined our piazza as a destination for the community to come together and take part in the artist’s creation,” said Virginia Shearer, Eleanor McDonald Storza director of education at the High. “The installation serves as a welcome mat for our family visitors and as inspiration to linger and play on the piazza.”
Concurrent with “Merry Go Zoo,” the High presents “Technicolor,” an immersive installation in the Museum’s Anne Cox Chambers Wing featuring dramatic new works by Hayon that the Museum commissioned to grow its significant 21st century design collection. Six large-scale tapestries, inspired by designs Hayon created for last summer’s “Tiovivo” piazza installation, hang from the ceiling. Hayon worked with the renowned Tilburg Textile Museum’s TextielLab in the Netherlands to weave the vibrant works using a mix of traditional fibers and non-traditional materials, such as rubber. Pedestals on the floor display quirky, stacked ceramics with colorful, expressive designs Hayon hand-painted with colored glazes. All of these works showcase Hayon’s new explorations in color and technique.
Artist-designer Jaime Hayon was born in Madrid in 1974. His artistic vision was first fully exposed in the “Mediterranean Digital Baroque” (London, 2003) and “Mon Cirque” (2006) installations. Those exhibitions put Hayon at the forefront of a new wave that blurred the lines between art, decoration and design and a renaissance in finely crafted, intricate objects within the context of contemporary design culture. Hayon further defined his vision in subsequent solo exhibitions and shows at major galleries and art fairs around the globe. Previous projects include the large, functional “Tournament” chessboard installed during London’s Design Week 2009 (Trafalgar Square) and the “Funtastico” solo exhibition at the Groninger Museum (the Netherlands, 2013). In 2015, the High acquired Hayon’s “Green Chicken” rocking chair (2008) for its decorative arts and design collection.
Hayon currently resides in Valencia, Spain, with offices in Barcelona and Treviso, Italy. His work has appeared in the most prestigious art and design publications worldwide, and he has won numerous awards, including multiple Elle Deco International Design awards. Wallpaper Magazine included Hayon in its “Design’s Top 100 Power List” and recognized him as one of the most influential creators of the last decade. TIME magazine also lauded him as a “visionary” and one of the “most creative icons.”
