TJ Wilcox

Art Brokerage: T. J, Wilcox American Artist: b. 1965. Born 1965 in Seattle; Attended School of Visual Arts, New York (1989, BFA); Art Center College of Design Pasadena (1995, MFA). For T. J. Wilcox: In the Air, the New York-based artist has created a remarkable new panoramic film installation, which fills most of the second floor of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Here Wilcox revisits the cinema in-the-round panoramic presentations that appeared at the dawn of film history in the late 19th century, bringing the concept up to date with state-of-the-art technology to create an immersive cinematic environment. Wilcox' work is characterized by a fascination with personal narrative and the ways in which history is always under construction, woven from fact, myth, memory, associations, and the bombardment of information we all receive on a moment-to-moment basis. Shot from Wilcox' studio with its 360-degree views of Manhattan from high above Union Square, In the Air tells New York-specific narratives related to the spectacular views seen through the artist's windows: an architects' vision of the Empire State Building as the landing site for trans-Atlantic zeppelins; Andy Warhols' welcoming the pope-mobile with a flurry of silver Mylar balloons; the life in the spotlight of artist, starlet, and heiress Gloria Vanderbilt; and the mesmerizing Manhattanhenge, the phenomenon that occurs when the sun sinks slowly at the Western edge of East-West city streets with perfect precision, creating a magical effect within the canyon-like walls of the city grid.