A monumental and vibrant porcelain tile wall drawing by Sol LeWitt has been installed at 59th Street-Columbus Circle. The artist created the proposal in 2004 and, working with Dattner Architects, selected the site in an expansive wall facing a double-wide stairway and landing that leads from the mezzanine to the platforms of the A, C, B, D and 1 trains. Titled “Whirls and twirls (MTA),” the artwork is 53 feet wide and by 11 feet high and consists of 250 porcelain tiles in six colors, each cut to meet the artist's specifications. The artist created the drawing/maquette for the project, reviewed and selected materials, and approved color samples prior to his death in 2007. 

The artist is known for his sculptures and his wall drawings, in which detailed directions are provided for the execution of the artwork in paint or pencil. The site-specific piece - unique because it is a permanent public installation of a wall drawing - is a bravura work of precision, with swooping curves and vertical and horizontal bars in vibrant color that completely fills the space. The tile was cut to the exact dimensions of the drawing to ensure that the scale of the work and the color sequences are as the artist intended.

Sol LeWitt (1928 – 2007) was a celebrated artist whose work helped to establish both Minimalism and Conceptual Art. Born in Hartford, CT, he received his BFA from Syracuse University before serving in the United States Army during the Korean War. After the war, he moved to New York, where he developed his craft and met influential artists. LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" and was prolific in a wide range of media including drawing, printmaking, photography, painting, installation, and artist's books. LeWitt helped revolutionize the definition of art in the 1960’s with his famous notion that “The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.” Over 1,100 of his Wall Drawings have been executed. He cofounded the artist book nonprofit Printed Matter, Inc. in 1976 with writer Lucy Lippard. Over the course of his career he has been the subject of hundreds of solo exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world and his works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Tate Gallery in London, the Dia Art Foundation in Beacon, NY, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. An exhibition at Mass MOCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, features 105 wall drawings in a specially designed museum space and will be on view through 2033.