Genesis Facade Commission: Jeffrey Gibson’s monumental sculptures at The Met

This fall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art unveils the second Genesis Facade Commission, spotlighting a groundbreaking installation by interdisciplinary artist Jeffrey Gibson. On view until June 9th, 2026, the project transforms the Museum’s Fifth Avenue facade into a dynamic stage for Gibson’s largest bronze works to date. Known for blending abstraction, text, and pattern with cultural histories, Gibson—who is of Cherokee descent and a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians—creates a striking fusion of contemporary art and Indigenous art traditions.

Jeffrey Gibson’s sculpture: animals of power and presence

At the core of the installation, titled The Animal That Therefore I Am, are four 10-foot Jeffrey Gibson sculptures, each representing a regional animal: a hawk, a deer, a coyote, and a squirrel. These creatures are more than symbolic; they embody resilience, adaptation, and coexistence in human-altered environments. Gibson integrates cast elements such as wood, beads, and cloth into the bronze, creating textured surfaces that shimmer with echoes of beadwork and textiles. The result is a poetic balance of the animate and inanimate, where natural forms meet abstract design.

One of the most striking works is the hawk, poised in a gesture that suggests both watchfulness and vulnerability. Nearby, the coyote carries Gibson’s bold abstract motifs across its surface, referencing survival and transformation. Together, the quartet forms a sculptural chorus, greeting visitors to The Met while engaging with the surrounding landscape of Central Park and the Hudson River Valley, where Gibson lives and works.

Indigenous art and contemporary dialogue

Gibson’s installation underscores the vitality of Indigenous art within the global contemporary scene. His work connects traditional aesthetics with urgent ecological and cultural questions, inviting audiences to rethink how humans and animals share environments. Inspired by Jacques Derrida’s text The Animal That Therefore I Am, the sculptures question hierarchies between species and explore cycles of domination, adaptation, and renewal.

As The Met’s Director Max Hollein emphasized, Gibson’s monumental bronze figures highlight overlooked histories and expand the institution’s dialogue with the present. By situating these forms on the neoclassical facade, the Museum redefines its entrance as a space where art, history, and the natural world intersect.

In our conversation, Jeffrey Gibson unpacks the dialogue between tradition and modernity, the shifting role of time in his practice, and the urgent need for institutions to rethink Indigenous representation. Read on to discover his vision in full.