The Light That Shines Through the Universe Collection

Inspired by The Light That Shines Through the Universe—an awe-inspiring, 27-foot-tall sculpture from Vietnamese-American artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen and the fifth High Line Plinth commission. 

Nguyen presents his Plinth commission as a monument to cultural loss and enduring spirit. The work’s title directly references the affectionate nickname local communities used for the larger of the Bamiyan Buddhas: “Salsal,” which translates to “the light shines through the universe.” The original 6th-century Bamiyan Buddhas of central Afghanistan were tragically destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban in an act of iconoclasm. The work is not an exact replica of Salsal, but rather an echo, intended to invoke the memory of these lost cultural treasures. For The Light That Shines Through the Universe, the artist reimagines the original hands, which were missing after centuries of attacks, long before the Buddhas’ eventual complete destruction. Cast from melted-down brass artillery shells from Afghanistan, each hand is positioned into a mudra, or ritual gesture—on the right, the Abhaya mudra, signifying “fearlessness”, and on the left, the Varada mudra, signifying “compassion.”

The statue is a reminder “that even in the midst of chaos and violence, we can remain compassionate and fearless. I imagine against the skyline these super polished brass hands, as they sparkle in the sun, will be something very spectacular,” Nguyen told The New York Times in an article announcing the sculpture’s selection as the fifth Plinth commission.

Learn more about the sculpture & High Line Art

Tuan Andrew Nguyen (b. 1976, Saigon, Vietnam) lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Nguyen has had major solo presentations at the New Museum, New York, NY (2023); Fondació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain (2024); Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa (2024); Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C. (2024); and the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (2025). The artist’s videos and films have been included in major international festivals, biennials, and exhibitions including 36th Bienal de São Paulo (2025); Prospect.6, New Orleans, LA (2024); the 12th Berlin Biennale, Berlin, Germany (2022); Manifesta 14, Prishtina, Kosovo (2022); Aichi Triennale, Aichi Prefecture, Japan (2022); Biennale de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal (2022); Asian Art Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Tapei, Taiwan (2021); Manifesta 13, Marseille, France (2020); Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Sharjah, UAE (2019); SOFT POWER, SFMoMA, San Francisco, CA (2019); the 2019 Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, UAE (2019); 2017 Whitney Biennial, New York, NY (2017); the 55th International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen, Germany (2009); 8th NHK Asian Film Festival, Tokyo, Japan (2007); 18th Singapore International Film Festival (2005) and 4th Bangkok Experimental Film Festival, Bangkok, Thailand (2005). Nguyen has received numerous awards, including the 2023 Joan Miró Prize, 2025 Trellis Art Fund Milestone Grant, and 2025 MacArthur Fellowship. Nguyen is set to unveil two major commissions in late October 2025: Temple, at National Gallery Singapore as part of the 2025 Singapore Biennale, and Naga, at Princeton University Art Museum during the unveiling of the museum’s new building.

His work is included in the permanent collections of institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; Carré d’Art – Musée d’art contemporain de Nîmes, France; Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP), Paris, France; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX; Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI; Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, CA; Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Museum MACAN, Jakarta, Indonesia; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO; Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ; Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane, Australia; Singapore Art Museum, Singapore; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; Taguchi Art Collection, Japan; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, and the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA.

High Line Art is dedicated to expanding the role of contemporary art in public spaces. We commission and produce world-class art projects on and around the High Line, sparking the dialogue that is an essential element of city life.