FRENTE FEROZ
FRENTE FEROZ at the Lee Building in Harlem, NY
Location: The Lee Building | Harlem, NY, 2005
12 ft x 53 ft x 40 2/3 ft (3.66 m x 16.15 m x 12.40 m)
Acrylic, convex lens, LEDs, custom lighting sequence, and electrical hardware.
FRENTE FEROZ was a permanent, site-specific light installation at the Lee Building on 125th Street and Park Avenue in Harlem, its oversized animal silhouettes and computer-controlled color sequence activating the building’s large windows from dusk to dawn as a luminous wildlife montage that speaks directly to the cultural, political, and social energy at the heart of one of New York’s most storied neighborhoods.
- TIME OUT New York (2005) covered FRENTE FEROZ under the headline “Jungle Fever,” recognizing the work as one of the most distinctive new public art commissions in the city that year, while NY Arts Magazine (2005) published “Where the Wild Things Are,” situating the installation within the broader landscape of contemporary public art in New York.
- Real Estate New York (2005) reported on commissioner and developer Eugene Giscombe’s vision for the work, documenting how his childhood experiences at summer camp in the Catskill Mountains and Boy Scout trips instilled a lifelong passion for wild nature that he sought to bring directly to city dwellers through Harlem’s most prominent commercial corridor.
- The installation’s lighting controller calculates sunrise and sunset based on New York City’s precise geographic coordinates, automatically activating the sequence before dusk and deactivating it before dawn, ensuring FRENTE FEROZ operates in continuous harmony with the natural rhythms of the city it inhabits.
- FRENTE FEROZ holds a foundational place in Amorós’s practice as one of her earliest major public commissions, establishing the conceptual and technical principles of site-responsiveness, community engagement, and the use of light as a tool for transforming familiar urban landscapes that would define all subsequent work.
- The work is visible simultaneously from the street below and from the adjacent MTA Metro-North platform, making it one of the most widely seen permanent public artworks in upper Manhattan and a daily encounter for thousands of commuters passing through Harlem.
Since Grimanesa Amorós was a teenager living in Peru, she has been intrigued by the cultural importance of Harlem and has always wanted to create a project in or about it. 125th Street, the heart and soul of this vibrant area, serves as a hub where cultural, political, and social ideas are produced and exchanged.
This installation draws inspiration from commissioner and real estate developer Eugene Giscombe’s passionate interest in exotic and wild animals, as well as Harlem itself. Giscombe describes how his annual family visits to an aunt in rural Watkins Glen, New York, summer camp in the Catskill Mountains, and Boy Scout camping trips instilled a thirst to discover the mysteries of nature, so foreign to city living. He explains, “Time and circumstances allowed me the freedom to satisfy a youthful urge to explore nature and wild places in the US and abroad. This wildlife montage, featuring wild animals from every corner of the earth, represents my attempt to share with city dwellers the wonders of nature around the world—right here in Harlem.”
Frente Feroz aims to capture the attention of passersby on the street and commuters on the adjacent MTA Metro-North platform, however fleeting. The location transforms into a port of intrigue in one of New York’s most diverse areas. The installation evokes responses as varied as the population itself. Each viewer interprets the silhouettes differently, creating a personal yet shared experience. The display not only sparks a desire to return but also encourages others to witness this unique scene.