The High Line Plinth has revealed its fifth commission, selecting a powerful new work by Vietnamese-American artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen. Titled The Light That Shines Through the Universe, the large-scale public art sculpture will be installed on the High Line Spur at 30th Street and 10th Avenue, where it will be on view from Spring 2026 through Fall 2027. The project continues the Plinth’s mission to present ambitious, thought-provoking works in one of New York’s most visible public spaces.
High Line Plinth: a platform for monumental public art
Launched as a dedicated site for rotating commissions, the High Line Plinth invites artists from around the world to create landmark sculptures that engage directly with the city and its audiences. Positioned at the Spur, the Plinth is conceived as a civic pedestal—one that elevates contemporary art while encouraging reflection, debate, and accessibility beyond museum walls.
A public art sculpture shaped by history and loss
Nguyen’s sculpture rises 27 feet high and is carved from light brown sandstone. Rather than replicating a historic object, the artist offers an evocation of one of the 6th-century Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan, which were destroyed in 2001. The work functions as an echo of what was lost, acknowledging cultural destruction while refusing erasure. Through this approach, the sculpture transforms absence into presence, allowing viewers to encounter history through form, scale, and material.
Collective memory as a source of resilience
At the heart of the project is the idea of collective memory—how shared remembrance can outlast violence and loss. Nguyen incorporates hands cast from melted-down brass artillery shells, reshaped into Buddhist mudras symbolizing fearlessness and compassion. Once instruments of harm, these materials are reimagined as gestures of healing and empathy. The work draws on the artist’s broader practice of addressing the long shadows of war and displacement, proposing memory and transformation as acts of quiet resistance.
Installed against the Manhattan skyline, The Light That Shines Through the Universe positions the High Line Plinth as both a site of remembrance and a space for imagining more humane futures—affirming the enduring power of public art to connect history, place, and shared humanity.
TUAN ANDREW NGUYEN
The Light That Shines Through the Universe, 2026 (rendering). A HIGH LINE PLINTH Commission
Image courtesy of TUAN ANDREW NGUYEN and the HIGH LINE
