Spanish artist SpY is known for transforming cityscapes with their striking installations. Although minimally invasive in the long run, the pieces offer a dramatic shift to the areas where they're installed—as we previously saw with their ORB in Montreal and Giza. Recently, the creative painted the night red with OVOID, a glowing, 115-foot-tall structure placed under the Wadi Hanifah Bridge in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
OVOID was created for Noor Riyadh, a festival devoted to public art that lights up the city with bright installations. As its name suggests, it's an ellipse shape that, when viewed from afar, seems to be standing on its own. This plays with ideas of perspective, particularly as OVOID is reflected in the water, making it seem even larger and eerier. Its particular shade of red adds a layer of surrealism to the scene, reinforcing how out of place it looks among the surrounding white and yellow city lights. And yet, it is incredibly alluring and hypnotic.
“With OVOID I seek to challenge the relationship between the viewer, the environment and the work, proposing, through perception, a profoundly physical and sensory experience,” the artist says in a statement shared with My Modern Met. “This illuminated red ovoid not only inhabits the landscape, but activates and redefines it. Its presence transforms space, questioning notions of scale and materiality.”
Regarding the size of their pieces, SpY says that monumentality allows them to establish visual and physical contrasts that impact the viewer. “However, scale is always relative,” explains SpY. “A large installation can be perceived in different ways depending on its context. In this case, OVOID may appear small among the imposing pillars of the bridge, generating a dialogue between its sculptural presence and the surrounding urban space. This play of proportions activates the viewer's perception, confronting him with his own scale within the environment.”
SpY's massive installations seek to question the public and make them engage with the space they inhabit. “I do not intend to create a static object, but an experience that invites to question the relationship with the urban environment,” the artist shares. “Through OVOID, the viewer not only observes the installation, but also sees himself reflected in it, rethinking his own presence in space and experiencing a new form of interaction with the city.”
Ultimately, for the artist, public art can break the monotony of urban life and serve as a catalyst for reflection. “Streets and squares are not mere stages for exhibiting works, but living organisms in constant evolution,” says the artist. “In this sense, OVOID is a turning point in the urban landscape, an invitation to rethink the boundaries between art, architecture and human perception”.
To stay up-to-date with the artist, follow the SpY on Instagram.
OVOID is a glowing, towering structure under the Wadi Hanifah Bridge in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It was designed by Spanish artist SpY for Noor Riyadh, a festival devoted to public art.
The 115-foot-tall OVOID has an elliptical shape that, when looked at from afar, seems to be standing on its own. This plays with our sense of perspective.
Its particular shade of red adds a layer of surrealism to the scene, reinforcing how out of place it looks among the tiny white and yellow city lights.
“With OVOID I seek to challenge the relationship between the viewer, the environment and the work, proposing, through perception, a profoundly physical and sensory experience,” says the artist.
SpY's massive installations seek to question the public and make them engage with the space they inhabit.
“Through OVOID, the viewer not only observes the installation, but also sees himself reflected in it, rethinking his own presence in space and experiencing a new form of interaction with the city.”
