Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Photos: Dazzling Phoenix Sculptures At St. John The Divine
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 1, 2014
Modified Mar 3, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 10
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 1, 2014
Modified Mar 3, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Starting today, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine will be showcasing two huge sculptures of phoenixes by the Chinese artist Xu Bing—and to celebrate, there will be performances from tightrope walker Philippe Petit, stiltwalkers and jugglers from the Big Apple Circus, puppeteers and more.
Xu made the sculptures, which weigh 12 tons each, from detritus and found materials he discovered in China. From the NY Times:
The project started in 2008, when he was asked to create a sculpture for a glass atrium at the base of a new building designed by the architect Cesar Pelli for the World Financial Center in Beijing’s central business district.
“When I first visited the building site, I had a sense of shock,” Mr. Xu recalled in an interview at a coffee shop near St. John the Divine. “It was impossible to imagine that with all the modern technology today, the building was constructed with such low-tech methods.”
The poor working conditions for the migrant laborers who were building such luxury towers, he said, “made my skin quiver.” Mr. Xu had such a violent reaction to what he saw that he decided to make the phoenixes rise, as it were, out of debris and workers’ tools that he salvaged from the construction site.
The building's developers asked Xu to make the birds look less raw ("perhaps with a crystalline exterior"), but he refused and the sculptures were rejected. With the help of migrant workers, Xu still created the birds, which are 90-100 feet long, and they've been displayed in Beijing and Shanghai as well as at Mass MoCa last year.
Curator Judith Goldman told WNYC, "You can look at it and think: it’s the most fantastic piece of Chinese folk art, and yes, it’s about migrant workers too, so it’s all those things."
The piece, which is also lit internally by LED lights, was transported by nearly a dozen flatbed trucks to St. John the Divine. The sculptures will be on display in the church's nave for the rest of 2014.
Tagged
phoenix
phoenix rising
st. john the divine
xu bing
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
How the NYC Marathon has changed in the last 50 years
Spoiler alert: It's still 26.2 miles.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Oct 14, 2026
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
"Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger," says the co-owner of Art of Play.
By
Sonia Rao
Arts & Entertainment
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
"Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger," says the co-owner of Art of Play.
By
Sonia Rao
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .