In “Ouranos, Above Us Only Sky,” Monika Bravo’s vibrant cityscape reflects the passage of time and the crystallization of civilization, encouraging contemplation of humanity's creative prowess. Culling images from Futurist architecture, including Antonio Sant'Elia’s never-realized buildings "Città Nuova" ("New City") and Hugh Ferriss’s “The Four Stages,” Bravo’s surreal landscape prompts introspection about our role in shaping the world and the potential outcomes of our endeavors. Directly referencing Grand Central’s vaulted ceiling above, constellations from Johann Bayer’s 1603-star atlas Uranometria float through the sky against pulsating, colorful abstractions. Inspired by her recent studies in Praxeology and open market economic principles, Bravo’s hand-colored and collaged animation explores how human action, purposeful behavior, and personal accountability shape civilization. Along with Yehwan Song's "Anyplace, Anytime, Anywhere" these artworks that draw from the frenetic energy of the city are displayed for two minutes each at regular intervals across five monumental LED screens near the 47th Street entrance to Grand Central Madison.

The work is presented by MTA Arts & Design with technical support from ANC.

Monika Bravo (b. 1964, Bogotá, Colombia) is a polymath and multidisciplinary artist whose work encompasses psycho-technologies and immersive sculptural environments. She is working on Arcana, a public art commission for the IEB at the University of Washington in Seattle. Recently, she received the Civitella Ranieri Visual Arts Fellowship in Italy and has completed several public art commissions, including "OGX BRT" in Ogden, Utah, "LIMINAL" at St. Paul International Airport, "Unus Mundus" at the East Boston Police Headquarters, and "Duration" at NYCT Prospect Av station in Brooklyn. This summer, Bravo is self-publishing her book, "The Nature of My Reality," co-produced with Mari Budlong and funded partly by The Miami Individual Artists Program. The book chronicles her journey from disempowerment to self-awareness and explores economic systems, historical banking roots, and literary connections to political and ecclesiastical authority. Bravo's philosophy integrates Eastern, ancestral, and cosmological traditions with psychological inquiries, praxeology, and Austrian economics, emphasizing liberty, value, resources, and self-worth as key components of civilized individual inquiry aimed at service. Bravo has exhibited her work internationally at venues such as the Rubin Museum of Art, the 56th Venice Biennale, and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.