The City of Miami Beach unveiled a new installation for the Art in Public Places project during the tenth Art Basel Miami Beach. The unique lighthouse designed by German artist Tobias Rehberger is not designed to guide ships; however, it will greet visitors to the city with cheerful, multi-colored lighting that underlines the lively spirit of the city.
The 55’ deconstructed lighthouse towering over Government Cut at South Pointe Park is the first permanent and public project in the United States for the internationally renowned artist. Rehberger has completed numerous public art pieces in Germany, France, Italy, Korea, Japan. He is also a professor at the University of Fine Arts, Frankfurt, Germany. He has had more than 80 solo museum shows in some of the most respected museums in the world and has been awarded several international art awards.
Rehberger said the location for this art project in South Pointe Park is what makes it even more special. “I wanted it to become a symbol that not only marks the area and greets all the visitors that pass through Government Cut every day by boat. It also brings together some of the key attributes the city stands for: a vital zest for life; art and design; and a sculpture that is designed as a modern playful interpretation of a beacon including the moving lights at the top,” he said.
The lighthouse marks the city’s 18th art in public places project with the first project being Mermaid by Roy Lichtenstein in 1979, which was Lichtenstein’s first public project. Other projects recently completed projects are by Wendy Wischer, Dan Graham and Brian Tolle. Almost two dozen works of art by artists showcased in galleries and museums around the world grace city parks, street corners, sidewalks, theater lawns, public buildings and even City Hall.
South Pointe Park sits in the South of Fifth neighborhood, the lighthouse stands in the shadow of the Murano at Portofino, one of the many luxury condo buildings in the South of Fifth neighborhood.
