We can, and with pleasure.
City Center’s $40 million in major art pieces by big-time artists is intended to serve as the magnets for a "cultural gathering place" for anyone who wants to transcend the typical Vegas attractions -- erupting volcano, dancing waters, pirate show, four-block light show, sky parade, and the like. However, unlike the other cultural attractions, such as the art galleries at Bellagio and the Wynn (and the two museums at the Venetian that have closed), the art at CityCenter is free -- "not declared so much as quietly offered," as Liz Benston aptly puts it in a Las Vegas Sun article.
Fifteen major works of art and a dozen or so smaller pieces are placed in strategic locations at CityCenter. Most have square brown plaques somewhere nearby, which list the artist, the name and a short description of the piece, and a short description of the artist’s style. You have to look, but you can find the signs.
The big pieces of mostly abstract art that adorn many of CityCenter’s walls don’t have signs, though you’ll know it’s art. We noticed a series of Dennis Hopper photographs featuring Christopher Walken off the casino floor at Aria, for example, and a huge print of his famous 1962 picture of Bill Cosby hiding in a bush.
Unsigned as well are the many elements of interior design and décor, such as the rows of small cacti in beds of white pebbles reflected by triangular mirrors in low white-marble pyramids on the promenade (buffet and theater) level in the portico of American Fish, Sirio, and Jean-Georges Steakhouse. If you’re wondering whether it’s art or interior design, look for the sign.
Here’s the list of the major artworks and their locations.
"Big Edge" is the Nancy Rubins’ 57-foot-wide by 75-foot-long by 20-foot-tall sculpture that combines 200 or so aluminum canoes and rowboats; it’s in the middle of the traffic circle between Aria and Vdara off Harmon Avenue.
"Day for Night, Night for Day" consists of two works by Peter Wegner made of stacked colored paper. The solar-themed "Day" piece 45 feet tall, while the lunar-themed piece is 34 feet tall. They face each other in the concierge lobby of Vdara.
"Damascus Gate Variation" is an 8- by 32-foot canvas of colorful geometric shapes in flourescent alkalyd resin created by Frank Stella in 1969; this is found behind the Vdara front desk.
Jenny Holzer’s "Vegas" comprises a 266- by 18-foot LED panel that display slogans and "truisms" in white-diode letters, somce 18-feet tall; this is found just outside the doors of the north valet pick-up area on the lower level of the north entrance across from Vdara.
"Silver River" by Maya Lin is an 84-foot-long sculpture cast from recycled silver, is backlit by the panoramic glass wall behind the front desk of Aria.
Well-known English sculptor Tony Cragg contributed three stainless-steel sculptures (one named "Bolt" for lightning; one named "Bent of Mind," and one unnamed) that look to us like liquid mercury frozen in space (think, Terminator); these are in the mini-lobby at the bottom of the escalator from the Aria self-parking garage.
"Feeling Material XVII" is a wire sculpture described as the silhouette of a human body in the center of an orbiting energy field; created by Antony Gormley, it hangs on the Promenade level next to the buffet.
"Typewriter Eraser, Scale X," is a whimsical piece by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen is a 19-foot four-ton steel and fiberglass sculpture that looks like an old-fashioned eraser; it’s located at the porte cochere of Mandarin Oriental.
Nearby is Masatoshi Izumi’s untitled sculpture, carved from basalt (an easily recognizable form of lava); it’s 16 feet tall and weighs nearly 20 tons.
In front of Crystals on the Strip is a large aluminum and wood turtledove, with a seat carved into it where you can sit; this is a piece from the collection called "Tourterelle" by French husband-and-wife sculptors Francois-Xavier and Claude Lalanne.
"Reclining Connected Forms" is a 10-foot-tall, 17-foot-long, seven-foot-deep abstract sculpture by Henry Moore representing a baby being held by the mother; it’s located in what’s known as the "pocket park" between Aria and Crystals.
In the lobby of Veer Towers (not yet opened) are two large mud wall drawings, "Circle of Life" and "Earth," by English multi-media artist Richard Long.
"Rose II" is a 26-foot tall single-stem stainless-steel, aluminum, and lacquer rose by Isa Genksen; it’s located in the porte cochere area of Harmon Place (not yet opened).
