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The Governors Island Ice Sculpture Show has been rescheduled to March 8, 2026. Click here for more info.

The Governors Island Ice Sculpture Show has been rescheduled to March 8, 2026. Click here for more info.

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Gov­er­nors Island Announces Com­mis­sion of New Art­work by Duke Riley

Apr 15, 2021 12:00 pm
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The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island announced today that a mur­al by artist Duke Riley will open as part of its ongo­ing art com­mis­sion­ing series. Riley’s instal­la­tion, enti­tled Not for Nut­ten, will open at the Gov­er­nors Island Fer­ry Wait­ing Room locat­ed in the his­toric Bat­tery Mar­itime Build­ing on May 1 and remain on exhib­it long term, with the work on view this pub­lic sea­son and in the years ahead. Riley’s mur­al expands on the tra­di­tion of ships in a bot­tle, ref­er­enc­ing sin­gle-use plas­tic con­tain­ers of today such as deter­gent bot­tles and caulk­ing tubes, which can be found float­ing and accu­mu­lat­ing in oceans world­wide. Unlike their blown glass coun­ter­parts, Riley’s paint­ed, nau­ti­cal vignettes appear etched like scrimshaw on the sur­faces of famil­iar items that plague our water­ways. The rich­ly pig­ment­ed art­work pro­vides vis­i­tors with an intro­duc­tion to their jour­ney across the Har­bor to Gov­er­nors Island, reflect­ing on how sto­ry­telling, mem­o­ry, and human con­sump­tion all make imprints on our ever-evolv­ing under­stand­ing of place, his­to­ry, and the phys­i­cal land­scapes that we inhab­it. ​“As a his­toric cen­ter for the arts, Gov­er­nors Island is proud to wel­come yet anoth­er cel­e­brat­ed artist to enliv­en our pub­lic spaces,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“Riley’s work mar­ries the Harbor’s rich his­to­ry with the Island’s present focus on the press­ing issues of the ongo­ing cli­mate cri­sis. This intri­cate­ly beau­ti­ful mur­al looks to both the past and the future, giv­ing vis­i­tors the chance to pause and reflect as they enjoy every­thing the Island has to offer.” ​“Duke Riley’s expan­sive work for the Gov­er­nors Island fer­ry build­ing links vis­i­tors to the Island’s past and present, with scenes rang­ing in time from the Island’s British occu­pa­tion to a sea crea­ture caught with a Covid-era rub­ber glove,” said Mered­ith John­son, VP of Arts and Cul­ture and Head Cura­tor at the Trust. ​“Blend­ing fact and fic­tion, humor and tragedy, Riley’s works acts as a col­lec­tion of past sto­ries anchored in the real­i­ty of what’s to come.” Riley anchors his work, Not for Nut­ten, in loca­tion with nau­ti­cal flags that spell out ​“Pag­gank”, the name giv­en to the Island by the Lenape. The name trans­lates to ​“Nut Island,” a ref­er­ence to the many nut trees found on its shores. In 1624, Dutch set­tlers called the Island ​“Noten Eylandt,” which the British lat­er mis­pro­nounced as ​“Nut­ten Island.” Riley’s play of the term ​“not for noth­ing,” a phrase whose ori­gin is spec­u­lat­ed to be unique­ly from New York City, frames the read­ing of the mur­al and its envi­ron­men­tal warn­ing, empha­siz­ing impor­tant news about to be deliv­ered. Not for Nut­ten is curat­ed by Mered­ith John­son, The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island’s Vice Pres­i­dent for Arts and Cul­ture and Head Cura­tor. Since open­ing to the pub­lic in 2005, the Island has been home to hun­dreds of artists and arts and cul­tur­al orga­ni­za­tions from across New York City, bring­ing a robust cal­en­dar of com­mis­sions, exhi­bi­tions and events to the Island’s diverse audi­ence. The Trust’s com­mis­sion­ing pro­gram gives artists the oppor­tu­ni­ty to engage with audi­ences through site-spe­cif­ic projects respond­ing to the Island’s unique con­di­tions. Exist­ing com­mis­sions that will remain on view for the 2021 sea­son include Rachel Whiteread’s Cab­in, Mark Handforth’s Yan­kee Hang­er, and Shantell Martin’s Church. Pre­vi­ous com­mis­sions include Susan Philipsz’s Day is Done, David Brooks’ Rock, Mos­qui­to and Hum­ming­bird, and Jacob Hashimoto’s Nev­er Comes Tomor­row. Learn more about pub­lic art com­mis­sions on Gov­er­nors Island at gov​is​land​.org/​t​h​i​n​g​s​-​t​o​-​d​o​/​p​u​b​l​i​c-art. Not for Nut­ten was made pos­si­ble through the gen­er­ous sup­port of Cha­ri­na Endow­ment Fund and The O’Grady Foun­da­tion. In 2021, Gov­er­nors Island will open to the pub­lic from May 1‑October 31. For more infor­ma­tion, vis­it gov​is​land​.org. About Duke Riley Duke Riley is a Brook­lyn-based artist and sea­far­er, whose work is inter­twined with mar­itime his­to­ry and urban water­ways. His instal­la­tions, paint­ings, draw­ings, sculp­tures, and mosaics weave his­tor­i­cal and con­tem­po­rary events with ele­ments of fic­tion and myth. In 2007, Riley built, launched, and pilot­ed a full-scale repli­ca of the Tur­tle, reen­act­ing its 1776 mis­sion near the shores of Gov­er­nors Island in the But­ter­milk Chan­nel for his project The Bat­tle of Brook­lyn. Born in Boston, Riley received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and his M.F.A. from Pratt Insti­tute. Riley’s work has been wide­ly exhib­it­ed in shows and pub­lic projects in New York, nation­al­ly, and internationally.
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