Every year, one artist has the unique opportunity to overtake the Met’s beautiful Roof Garden in a highly-anticipated annual exhibition. This year’s installation comes from artist, Jennie C. Jones, titled Ensemble.
Onlookers will find that the exhibition’s three large sculptures closely mimic various instrument. Can you guess which three instruments are portrayed?
Alright, enough guessing! Jones draws upon a trapezoidal zither, a tall Aeolian harp and a doubled, leaning one-string. The exhibition is quite literally “waiting to be heard” as its construction makes for “sonic potential.”
Jones took inspiration directly from The Met, using materials seen in the museum’s Great Hall and other areas within her pieces. Not to mention, the mechanics and angles of the strings were aided by observations taken from actual instruments in The Met’s Musical Instrument galleries.
“We are thrilled that Jennie C. Jones has brought her unique artistic vision to The Met’s iconic roof garden,” said Max Hollein, the Museum’s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer. “Elevated high above the sounds and rhythms of New York City, her innovative installation seamlessly combines form, color, line, and acoustics, challenging visitors to engage with sculpture in new and unexpected ways.”
Jones is known to utilize sound, such as Black avant-garde music, as conceptual elements across all mediums she works in. She even affixes her canvases with acoustic fiber glass panels to absorb sound to the lines and bars displayed in her art as a nod to musical notation.
Ensemble is the 12th in the series of commissions for the Roof Garden. But more importantly, it’s the last commission in the space for the next five years as it will undergo construction for the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing that will hold the museum’s modern and contemporary art.
Visitors won’t see another Roof Garden commission until the anticipated reopening in 2030, when the museum plans to recommence the series.
Last year’s commission featured artist Petrit Halilaj’s first major project in the United States.
📅 Ensemble will be on view through April 15 through October 19, 2025