Susan Lee-Chun Puts Her Head in the Clouds Above Grand Central

By Amanda McCorquodale Tue., Nov. 22 2011 at 4:00 PM

Categories: Art, Art Basel Miami Beach

Courtesy David Castillo Gallery

Head in the Clouds (Grand Central), 2011

What artists' new favorite canvas? Miami's bright blue sky. Street artist Above recently hung a banker dummy from wires above his Occupy Wall Street mural in Wynwood. Several blocks away there is another figure in the sky, this time courtesy of Miami artist Susan Lee-Chun.

Perched high above the rooftop of Grand Central, a person in a hoodie has his or her head stuck in a fluffy cloud. The piece was created for the Groslch-sponsered Get the Green Light series. Head in the Clouds is one of 10 public art works commissioned by the green beer in the hopes of highlighting Miami artists during a week when local talent is too often ignored.

Lee-Chun says "the concept for the sculpture Head in the Clouds is something I have been thinking a lot about -- this escapist notion or state of mind."

The G-Spot project's curator Claire Breukel gave each of the artists a list of locations. Lee-Chun says "After considering a few options, Grand Central's rooftop was an obvious choice. The building is perfectly situated with blue skies (weather permitting) behind it."

Lee-Chun, who has won a New Times Mastermind award and is one our 100 Creatives, is well-known for her performance-based works. The artist recently inspired 18 Baltimore residents to don gold workouts suits and march down a Maryland street as "Suz-ercisers."

The idea of rituals is central to Korea-born, Chicago-raised Lee-Chun, whose art examines the murky waters of identity politics. She has performed and constructed the clothing and environments of a trio of alter egos, collectively referred to as The Suz: It's Faux Real!. But Lee-Chun is moving away from performance pieces to sculpture.

"Aside from this project, I had been working on a series of sculptures for the current exhibition at David Castillo's, only on a different scale and level -- with kitschy collectible figurines. This G-Spot project gave me an opportunity to create a sculpture that not only was humorous and appropriate for the site, but life-size and available for all to see." Look for the gold figure during your Basel wanderings or as you zoom by on I-95. It will be up until December 5.

All the G-Spot artworks are competiting in an online poll. Click here to see a list of artists and their work and to vote for your favorite. Voting ends December 5.