The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced that Beijing-based artist Liu Wei will create four large-scale sculptures for its iconic Fifth Avenue facade in New York City, set to be unveiled in fall 2026. This marks Liu Wei's first major presentation in the United States and represents the seventh iteration of The Met's annual Genesis Facade Commission, an ambitious initiative that brings contemporary art directly into the public sphere.
The announcement was made during a press conference in Paris, where Liu Wei was revealed as the next participant in The Genesis Facade Commission. The event also featured architect Frida Escobedo, who presented details about the museum's upcoming Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing, her major expansion project for The Met's modern and contemporary art collection scheduled to open in 2030.
Liu Wei, renowned for his monumental sculptural installations that repurpose fragments from urban and historical environments, will engage with the niches of The Met's facade through works exploring cycles of rupture, resistance, mending, and creation. Using his distinctive artistic language of reconfiguration and assemblage, the Beijing-based artist is expected to combine raw and refined elements, inviting viewers to reconsider the contradictions of contemporary life.
"Liu Wei's sculptures for The Genesis Facade Commission are sure to reflect the curiosity, innovation, and even humor he is known for," said Max Hollein, The Met's Marina Kellen French Director and CEO. "This commission also reflects the spirit of The Met's Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art, opening in 2030, where global perspectives and boundary-pushing artistic practices like Liu Wei's will be at the heart of how we present art of our time."
The commission, curated by Lesley Ma, Ming Chu Hsu and Daniel Xu Curator in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, will be on view from September 17, 2026, through June 8, 2027. This installation situates Liu's practice within the broader institutional effort to expand The Met's contemporary program and engage with diverse global artistic voices.
Expressing his excitement about the opportunity, Liu Wei noted, "To dialogue with the tremendous legacy of human civilization through The Met's Genesis Facade Commission makes me so excited and anxious. What a challenge and a blessing." His enthusiasm reflects the significance of this commission as both a personal milestone and a cultural bridge between Chinese contemporary art and American audiences.
Since its inception in 2019, The Genesis Facade Commission has redefined how The Met introduces itself to the world, using its monumental exterior as a stage for free and public art. Previous installations have included notable works such as Wangechi Mutu's mythic bronze figures "The NewOnes, will free Us" (2019), Carol Bove's metallic distortions "The séances aren't helping" (2021), Hew Locke's gilded reimaginings of power titled "Gilt" (2022), Nairy Baghramian's "Scratching the Back" (2023), and most recently, Lee Bul's "Long Tail Halo" (2024) and Jeffrey Gibson's "The Animal That Therefore I Am" (2025).
Each commission invites artists to engage with The Met's architectural and symbolic presence, forging meaningful links between history, material, and identity. For Liu Wei, this commission extends his long-standing engagement with urban transformation and the fragmentation of the modern condition, themes that have defined his artistic practice for decades.
Liu Wei emerged as a leading figure among Chinese conceptual artists of the late 1990s, developing a diverse practice spanning sculpture, painting, video, and installation. His work consistently uses everyday materials to expose the tensions and complexities of contemporary life. His artistic approach, defined by assemblage and reconfiguration, transforms industrial and found elements into complex spatial systems that oscillate between chaos and control, reflecting the rapidly changing urban landscape of modern China and the broader global condition.
The commission arrives at a pivotal moment as The Met prepares for a major architectural transformation with the construction of the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing, designed by acclaimed architect Frida Escobedo. Set to open in 2030, this significant 11,706-square-meter addition will house the museum's collection of modern and contemporary art from 1890 to the present day.
During the Paris announcement, Escobedo reflected on the unique challenges of designing within the existing footprint of the historic institution. "The Met is composed of 21 individual buildings, constructed over 100 years. It's very much like a medieval town, a collection of narrow streets and open plazas," she commented. Her innovative design draws inspiration from the logic of weaving, employing modular grids and screens to create a cohesive yet dynamic architectural language.
The Tang Wing will establish new visual connections to Central Park through carefully designed layered galleries, blending natural daylight, varied textures, and rhythmic spatial sequences into the museum's evolving architectural vocabulary. "We aim to create moments of surprise and contemplation, of encounter and reflection," Escobedo explained, noting that the new spaces will bring the park's natural landscape into meaningful dialogue with both the city skyline and the museum's interior galleries, creating a seamless integration between nature, urban environment, and artistic expression.
