Cheyenne Julien Reaches New Heights in '41 Floors'

Chapter NY presents 41 Floors, a solo exhibition by Cheyenne Julien, now on view through February 15, 2025. The Bronx native expands on her previous work, which explores the relationship between built environments and their inhabitants, turning her focus to the outdoor spaces within and around the iconic Tracey Towers.

The work draws inspiration from architect Paul Rudolph, who designed the buildings in the early 1970s with a utopian vision for urban renewal. While he envisioned the space as a bustling hub for communities engagement with lush gardens and vibrant courtyards, none of these amenities ever came to fruition for the residents.

Through expansive and layered compositions, Julien reinterprets Rudolph’s blueprints, transforming the idealistic imagination of these structures with poignant reflections of her experience growing up within the Towers. Reflecting the architect’s boundless creativity, her work lays bare the reality of living in a “visionary project” marred by continual inefficiencies and oppressive features.

“Stark beams of light cast from glowing windows and distant headlights penetrate Julien’s compositions, either suggesting a possible divine presence or invoking the paranoia of a surveilled state of being,” wrote the gallery. “Julien emphasizes the interdependency of bodies and these contexts by merging building materials such as brick, metal, and concrete with her imagined figurative subjects.”

While the exhibition finds its footing in the Tracey Towers, 41 Floors transports its audience to a place that transcends time and space – one marked by the  suffocating entanglement of body and building.

Chapter NY
60 Walker St,
New York, NY 10013

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