the giants

The Giants mural is a collaboration between the artist and Studio Sofield, commissioned by JDS Development Group for the new Steinway Tower at 111 w57th St, New York. It is a love letter to, and an echo of the great murals of midtown Manhattan, some of which are close by; Radio City Music Hall, 30 Rockefeller Center, and The King Cole Bar at the St Regis Hotel. The overscale figures represent the magnificence and magnitude of the human spirit, and the landscape celebrates the spectacular Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State. The Adirondack wilderness is the largest National Historic Landmark in the United States. It is Federally protected, and covers an area larger than the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, the Smoky Mountains, and the Glacier National Park combined.

The mural is located on the Amenities Floor in the original 1925 Steinway Hall section of the building, formerly occupied by rehearsal rooms used by the great composers, pianists, and singers of the 20th century. One first encounters The Giants in the Benedict Bar, then the mural continues into and around the adjacent, double-height South Reception Room. Both of these rooms open onto a large outdoor terrace. The Steinway Tower is a private residence, and is not open to the public.

Special thanks to models John Mayo, Jerzy Tadeusz Mistal, Mary O’Reilly, Fil Poplawski, and Annabelle René.

And to JDS Development Group, Studio Sofield, William Sofield, Emma O’Neill, and Robert Bahnsen, Alexander and Bonin, Carolyn Alexander, Ted Bonin, Kathryn Gile, Ben McGowan, and Joerg Lohse, Merenda Wallpaper, Sarah Merenda, Max Kahan, and Yumi Hunt.