“Don’t ASK” by Allison Katz

As a slight chill descends on New York, we sought comfort from the changing seasons at one of our favorite places for public art, the High Line, to observe Allison Katz’s Don’t ASK. Hovering above the intersection of 18th Street and 10th Avenue, Don’t ASK features two oversized chickens mid-crosswalk, playfully referencing the classic anti-joke: “Why did the chicken cross the road?” But rather than providing an answer, the installation leans into uncertainty, highlighting possibility, anticipation, and the unknown. Katz’s piece reflects her interest in roads and transportation systems, not just as infrastructure, but as symbols of thought in motion. The road becomes a metaphor for ideas, transitions, and open-ended futures. Visually, Don’t ASK mimics the towering advertisements that define New York City’s skyline. However, instead of selling a product, it reclaims the billboard format to provoke reflection rather than consumption. In a city of constant movement and noise, Don’t ASK offers a quiet interruption, a thoughtful invitation to pause, consider, and embrace not knowing.

“Soft Power” by Alex Da Corte

For decades Venezuelan-American artist Alex Da Corte has been delighting viewers with his sly wit and colorful approach, and his newest installation on display in New York City does not disappoint. “Soft Power” fills The High Line’s billboard on 18th Street and 10th Avenue with a bright pink display inspired by the 1960’s Friz Freleng cartoon, The Pink Panther.

The piece explores the flex of soft power, which Da Corte describes as “a place for fairness, for clear views clearly expressed, for mutualistic relations that benefit all parties or, at least, show consideration for all parties. It is the site for truce.” The color pink has flexed its soft power for decades, selling products, representing queer freedom, and exemplifying a poised resistance. In “Soft Power,” pink takes center stage as a dominant influence, and we can’t look away. Viewers can catch this exhibition on The High Line through May.

“On Growth” by Kapwani Kiwanga

“On Growth” by Canadian artist Kapwani Kiwanga is one of the latest additions to the public art on display on the High Line. The colorful sculpture uses architecture and horticulture to create artwork inspired by marginalized or forgotten histories.

Known for her work that explores gender, colonialism, and the African diaspora, Kiwanga drew inspiration for this sculpture from Wardian cases, early versions of terrariums, which were used in the late nineteenth century to transport plants from around the world to Europe. “On Growth” depicts a fern enclosed in an intricately crafted case that glimmers with dichroic glass.  Depending on where you stand, the special glass plays with the light that passes through, transforming its colors and tones. The installation will be on display on the high line until October.