New Terminal Artwork Captivates Passengers
Two incredible new pieces of original artwork now adorn CLT’s terminal. Whether passengers depart or arrive, these installations give everyone something to admire.
“Weightless Monument” – A Modernist Hanging Masterpiece
Los Angeles-based artist Benjamin Ball has created a massive hanging sculpture in Concourse A-Phase One. This modernist installation, titled “Weightless Monument,” stretches 90 feet and showcases vibrant clouds of delicate, interlacing stainless steel ball chain segments suspended in catenary curves beneath the skylight. The artwork seeks to capture the essence of light and space. As natural light changes throughout the day and evening, the piece's reflective qualities also will evolve.
“I think it’s amazing,” said traveler Bob Glah of Colorado. “I love how the primary colors interact with one another…as you look at it, it almost turns purple.”
Ball’s team spent four months fabricating the materials in his studio, using algorithms to arrange the 10,000 tiny chain segments -approximately 28 miles in length - into three-dimensional patterns connected to a cable system with four anchor points. Despite its enormous size, the suspension has a “see-through” effect.
“In the flow, some travelers will see the dynamics of moving water or billowing clouds. Others might see a jet trail,” said Ball, the co-founder of Ball-Nogues Studio. “My aim is not to prescribe references, but to turn the traveler’s imagination loose so they can create their own meanings.”
The award-winning artist has exhibited at major institutions around the world and completed public commissions for Los Angeles International Airport, San Diego International Airport, the Chicago Transit Authority, Royal Caribbean International and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, among others.
“Nurture and Nature” Arrives in Domestic Arrivals
The philosophical debate on “Nurture and Nature” inspired Nigerian-born, Brooklyn-based artist Olalekan “LeK” Jeyifous, who is known for addressing social issues through his artwork. Jeyifous is also a trained architect, which proves useful when designing large-scale pieces. “It’s not just about solving spatial challenges; it’s about telling stories,” he said.
Jeyifous’s vinyl tile mural — which spans 3,800 square feet and weighs 11,560 pounds — now graces the Airport’s Domestic Arrivals area. (A mirror image of it will eventually be installed alongside a second set of escalators leading to Baggage Claim.)
It showcases illustrations and iconography that represent the business and industry in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, N.C. - including banking, energy, motorsports and the film industry — alongside imagery of the region's native plants and wildlife. The bold, graphic panels are arranged in alternating blocks, in a nod to the tradition of Black American quilting patterns.
Jeyifous expressed excitement that his work at CLT will reach such a wide audience. “It’s one of the reasons that, as a visual artist, I decided to do public art because the gallery space can feel a bit intimidating and sometimes exclusionary,” he said. “So having my work in a public space that your everyday person passes and can appreciate is incredibly exciting...to bring artwork to individuals who may not be going to art galleries and museum openings on a regular basis.”
Jeyifous received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Cornell University, where he currently serves as a visiting lecturer. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Jeyifous also has created large-scale public installations for X’s (formerly Twitter) Manhattan offices and at the 2017 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
View other artwork throughout the terminal and where you can see them firsthand at CLT.