For her showstopping Miami Art Week exhibitions, renowned British artist Es Devlin drew from childhood memories: reading her favorite books, overflowing the bathtub and nearly drowning in the River Thames.
Her monumental work “Library of Us,” a 50-foot-wide triangular bookshelf holding thousands of books that rotates like a compass needle in a pool of water, invites viewers to contemplate and reconnect with their own memories about reading, knowledge, time and water. The interactive artwork located on the sands of Miami Beach, where visitors are invited to sit and read, was commissioned by nonprofit Faena Art, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
“Library of Us,” along with two other exhibitions by Devlin in the Faena Hotel lobby and nearby Faena Art Project Room, are free and open to the public until Sunday. Devlin, an internationally-acclaimed artist known for creating large scale works, felt a wave of emotions as she reflected on the work during the opening party on Monday. The artwork is meant to spark the sense of urgency people feel when water gets too close to paper, similar to how Devlin’s mother felt when she accidentally overfilled the bathtub as a child…