The High Line announced that Arthur Simms’ commission, A Totem for the High Line., is now on view. Looming 40 feet tall over the High Line, the work beckons viewers from both the sidewalks of Chelsea and the pathways of the park.
Installed at the 16th Street Spur Preserve, a location marked with visible remnants of the High Line’s industrial and wild past, Simms’ totem fittingly stands as a monument to memory and history. The sculptural assemblage, composed of weathered utilitarian materials and personal effects wrapped meticulously in rope, is a trademark of the artist’s decades-long career.
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“It’s been an honor to work with Arthur Simms and to bring to the High Line one of his most iconic works, which will be visible both from up on the park and down on the street level,” said Cecilia Alemani, the Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art. “I hope that parkgoers will be inspired to find new connections between Simms’ powerful sculpture and the history of the High Line and the city at large.”
In addition to comprising materials that have become core to his body of work—wood, rope, and personal objects—A Totem for the High Line. speaks directly to its site, both on the High Line and in New York City. This new site-specific sculpture incorporates a decommissioned utility pole found on Randall’s Island, assorted cables, and discarded license plates from various states, suggesting intertwined journeys across great distances that connect in New York City.
By integrating these elements, Simms continues his practice of entangling and reusing objects to emphasize the various histories and meanings they carry. The work stands as an homage to transformation and the perpetual unfolding of our past, present, and future.
Simms is well-known for creating elaborate assemblages of seemingly disparate found and personal objects that coalesce into intimate reflections on his lived experience, familial history, and spiritual reverence. Autobiographical in nature, his work incorporates trinkets, materials more likely found in a hardware store than an art supply shop, and objects gifted by friends and loved ones looking to clean houses and discard what they view as “junk.” Simms pairs these elements with deeply personal belongings such as tufts of his and his wife’s hair, keys, identification cards, and letters from his late mother.
He then binds these discordant pieces together by meticulously wrapping them with twine, wire, or hemp rope—the latter, a symbolic reference to his Jamaican roots—to the point of near non-recognition. Simms’ practice is grounded in his cultural heritage and dual identity as both Jamaican and American; he uses his sculpture to narrate stories of personal identity, family, spiritual and physical journeys, emotional tensions, and nostalgia for home.
