Six Large-Scale Sculptures by New York Artist Whisbe at World Trade Center’s Oculus Plaza

Photo Courtesy of PANYNJ

Yearlong Outdoor Installation to Bring Childhood Whimsy in the Forms of Giant Gummy Bear, Rocket Ship and Dinosaurs to One of New York City’s Premier Spaces for Work and Play

Photos of the Sculptures are Available Here

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey today announced that its World Trade Center campus will host a free and public yearlong installation of six new large-scale public art sculptures by the New York-born contemporary artist WhIsBe. The artworks, collectively titled Rewind, are on view throughout the south Oculus Plaza, which is the outdoor pedestrian area between the World Trade Center’s Oculus Transportation Hub and 3 World Trade Center.

More than 200,000 daily visitors, workers, and community residents will be able to enjoy the vibrant oversized sculptures series inspired by childhood, including a massive gummy bear, rocket ship and dinosaur.

The six original steel sculptures range from six to 16 feet in height. At the center of the display is WhIsBe’s trademark Vandal Gummy Bear in red, white and blue, standing at 14 feet tall as the artist’s largest such iteration in the United States. The surrounding pieces include the 10-foot rocket WASA, symbolizing the drive and ambition associated with New York City; the 15-foot-long dRex, which nods to childhood visits to the American Museum of Natural History; the 5-foot-tall robot Spark, created with a missing heart as a reference to the globally known I ❤️ NY iconography; and 6-foot-tall rainbow-colored NYC building blocks, celebrating the city’s spirit of inclusivity and diversity. The artist also plans to host events surrounding the sculptures that further explore their themes and ideas, offering audiences new and engaging ways to connect with the artist and artwork.  

The World Trade Center exhibit marks a campus return for WhIsBe, who was commissioned in 2017 to create a sculpture for 4 World Trade Center. The Port Authority looks to foster a dynamic and vibrant World Trade Center campus, offering year-round public arts and culture programming and welcoming community spaces that appeal to the millions of workers, locals and visitors at the campus each year. In addition to offering top-tier office space that has attracted innovative media and technology companies, the Port Authority also hosts food markets, a seasonal beer garden, live sports watch parties, yoga and wellness classes, and bold public art installations throughout its campus.

WhIsBe’s work bridges street art and the institutional art world, mixing playful imagery with cultural critique. In 2016, he partnered with New York’s New Museum on a large-scale Vandal Gummies installation. Amsterdam’s MOCO Museum acquired a seven-foot-tall Vandal Gummy that same year. He was also commissioned to create a 25-foot Vandal Gummy Dino for the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state agency that builds, operates, and maintains many of the most important transportation and trade infrastructure assets in the country. For over a century, the agency’s network of major airports; critical bridges, tunnels and bus terminals; a commuter rail line; and the busiest seaport on the East Coast has been among the most vital in the country – transporting hundreds of millions of people and moving essential goods into and out of the region. The Port Authority also owns and manages the 16-acre World Trade Center campus, which today welcomes tens of thousands of office workers and millions of annual visitors. The agency’s historic $37 billion 10-year capital plan includes unprecedented transformation of the region’s three major airports – LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and JFK – as well as an array of other new and upgraded assets, including the $2 billion renovation of the 93-year-old George Washington Bridge. The Port Authority’s annual budget of $9.4 billion includes no tax revenue from either the states of New York or New Jersey or from the city of New York. The agency raises the necessary funds for the improvement, construction or acquisition of its facilities primarily on its own credit. For more information, visit www.panynj.gov or check out the Now Arriving blog.