Located on the corner of Willoughby and Washington Ave. in Clinton Hill Brooklyn 11205
The Facade Foundation is a new public arts non-profit with the mission of transforming New York’s scaffold netting into a citywide platform for ambitious contemporary art—making works accessible, impactful, and woven into the fabric of everyday life.
Working closely with artists, estates, and institutions, the foundation facilitates the curation and installation of custom printed scaffold netting onto building facades, in collaboration with construction companies and building owners.
By turning these ubiquitous negative spaces throughout the city into canvases, they present a unique opportunity for artists to share their work with broad audiences and for building owners to leverage their space in collaboration with the city’s vibrant arts community.
"Accessibility has always been a priority in my work, and this project exemplifies that goal. A public installation at this scale is almost the opposite of a fate all too common in contemporary
art—where works are purchased only to become hidden in collectors’ homes or tucked away in galleries, museums, and other institutions. Presenting work in this format makes it available to a larger audience in a way that is wholly unique to the Facade Foundation.
This piece comes from my most recent series of textile-based “paintings” made from durags. When I was first invited to work with the Facade Foundation, I knew that a “brick” work like
Rapunzel would be my choice. There is a unique push/pull between the literal and the abstract in these works: the motif explicitly references brick, structure, and building, while the colors I use hardly resemble a jobsite. Instead, they draw from the textile palette of prior works that make no reference to brick at all. These works are both representational and surreal, and that tension is made even more acute in this installation. The brick wall is real—and also not." - Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola