Local Artists’ Sculptures Add Personality to Jersey City’s VYV
With paintings and sculptures threaded through the public spaces, artwork is fully integrated into the VYV experience. The program both reinforces the development’s energetic yet sophisticated brand identity and also celebrates Jersey City’s strong local arts scene, which is anchored by a renowned institution: Mana Contemporary, a studio and exhibition center located in a converted tobacco warehouse nearby.
Two internationally exhibited artists with ateliers at Mana feature prominently at the VYV buildings. Maximilian Pelzmann, who has a second studio in Northern Spain and is known for small and large sculptures in such mediums as glass, bronze, and foam core, contributed the large-scale Totem and Pavilion to the project’s amenity deck. Then, in one of the lobbies, are compositions by painter Stanley Casselman. For his Liquid Series, he creates intriguing abstractions by pushing acrylic paint or synthetic polymer through the backside of polyester screens and then manipulating them medium further with custom spreaders; the pieces are then surfaced with a layer of silver nitrate.
Though the VYV collection, which also includes works by Bette Klegon Halby, J. Margulis, and Jessie Morgan, is museum-quality, the goal ultimately was to create a homey vibe. “The art is there,” explains
Sallyann Thomas Farnum, director of interior design at Arrowstreet, which led the program, “to make sure the spaces feel residential.”