Bettina Pousttchi installs sculpture at Rockefeller Center
German artist Bettina Pousttchi brings her ongoing Vertical Highways series to the United States for the first time, installing a monumental sculpture at Rockefeller Center. On view until April 17th, 2026, Vertical Highways V03 (2025) occupies the Channel Gardens, the historic axis connecting Fifth Avenue to The Rink, positioning the work within one of New York’s most recognizable urban sequences. ‘By installing my sculpture Vertical Highways V03 in front of Rockefeller Center, I want to initiate a dialogue of art and architecture that resonates with the urban history of New York City,’ the artist notes.
Constructed from reconfigured guardrails, the artwork continues Pousttchi’s long-standing engagement with elements that organize and regulate movement in the city. Barriers, bollards, and roadside components are stripped of their utilitarian role through processes of bending, pressing, and recoloring, then recomposed into vertical, rhythmic arrangements. In Vertical Highways V03, these fragments no longer direct traffic or delineate space, but operate as formal units, suggesting circulation without enforcing it.
This approach aligns with the artist’s sustained interest in how infrastructure shapes perception. By isolating and serializing these objects, Pousttchi draws on the legacy of Minimal Art while also recalling the conceptual shift introduced by Marcel Duchamp’s readymades.
all images by Guillaume Ziccarelli
A transnational series lands in New York
The presentation at Rockefeller Center follows earlier iterations of the Vertical Highways series installed in major public contexts, including the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, a permanent work in front of Berlin Central Station, and a site near the Istanbul Modern Museum. The New York installation extends this trajectory, placing one of the artist’s largest sculptures within a dense commercial and cultural setting.
Bettina Pousttchi’s work also enters into dialogue with Rockefeller Center’s nearly century-long commitment to public art, originally established by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and Abigail Rockefeller. Today, the campus hosts more than 100 permanent artworks alongside a rotating program of temporary installations, positioning contemporary commissions within an established architectural and cultural framework.
‘Bettina Pousttchi’s Vertical Highways V03 transforms the language of infrastructure into a striking visual experience. Public art has long been central to Rockefeller Center’s identity, and this installation continues that tradition in a way that feels both contemporary and deeply connected to our architectural heritage. We’re proud to share this work with everyone who visits Rockefeller Center,’ notes EB Kelly, Head of Rockefeller Center and Senior Managing Director, Tishman Speyer.
Over the past fifteen years, the German artist has developed a practice centered on large-scale, site-specific works that respond to their architectural and social surroundings. Rather than inserting autonomous objects into public space, her installations tend to echo the logics already embedded in their environments, from circulation systems to facade rhythms.
Bettina Pousttchi brings her ongoing Vertical Highways series to the US for the first time
Vertical Highways V03 (2025) occupies the Channel Gardens
constructed from reconfigured guardrails
the artwork continues Pousttchi’s engagement with elements that organize and regulate movement in the city
Bettina Pousttchi’s work enters into dialogue with Rockefeller Center’s commitment to public art
the German artist has developed a practice centered on large-scale, site-specific works
project info:
name: Vertical Highways V03
artist: Bettina Pousttchi | @bettinapousttchi
location: Rockefeller Center, Channel Gardens
dates: March 19th – April 17th, 2026
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