When the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies commissioned the artist Frank Stella to create a work for the new U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2022, I felt honored to collaborate with him and his studio. Thanks to Agnes Gund, a FAPE board member, we were thrilled to be working with Frank. He was making some spectacular work.
The sculpture he created for FAPE, Hanoi Star, is dazzling. It consists of two conjoined, multi-pointed stars made of aluminum and stands more than twenty feet tall. Frank said about the work, “the stacked stars represent a cascade of light, with the hope of continuing peace.” It was the last public project he completed.
Before the sculpture is eventually shipped to Hanoi for permanent installation (currently slated for 2030), Hanoi Star will be displayed in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden at the Museum of Modern Art, in New York, where it will remain on display through May 2025. It will stand as a testament to one of our country’s most distinguished artists who helped shape the course of American art history.
