The fine arts scene continues to grow in Las Vegas

The presence of visual art in Las Vegas has progressed slowly and steadily in the years since the Bellagio opened with a blue chip collection in its gallery, Dale Chihuly’s ceiling of blown glass flowers greeting arrivals and Picasso pieces in a restaurant named for the artist. Both the Cosmopolitan and multi-resort complex CityCenter upped the game by prominently featuring works by major artists, or commissioning them to add their signature touches to design.

The Palms is now a veritable museum since undergoing nearly $700 million in renovations, and recently became home to Las Vegas’ first permanent work by one of the most famous street artists in the world.

The enigmatic Banksy’s 2002 spray-painted depiction of two armed police officers with yellow smiley faces, Smiley Coppers Panel I, shares space with creations by Kenny Scharf, Cleon Peterson, Vhils, Martha Cooper, DabsMyla and Slick inside newly opened, Rockwell Group-designed restaurant Greene St. Kitchen. The latest

works join a collection that includes multiple pieces by Damien Hirst, such as his instantly infamous The Unknown (Explored, Explained, Exploded).

Hirst’s much-discussed piece is an actual tiger shark separated into three formaldehyde-filled tanks and installed above the casino’s center bar, and is the current highlight of a fortune in fine art now available for public viewing. A tour for guests is in the works, according to Palms’ creative director Tal Cooperman, and is a no-brainer considering the inevitable queries visitors will make once they find out that works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Andy Warhol and Dustin Yellin are on property.

One of Cooperman’s personal favorites is Todd James’ All the Time in the World, a 2018 acrylic-on-canvas hanging in the VIP check-in area, next to a circular, spray-paint-on-aluminum spirograph-inspired work by Jason Revok. Guests may have already been familiar with James as a hip-hop logo creator (Beastie Boys, The Source) and as the puppet designer for Crank Yankers, but a stay at the Palms can expose the uninitiated to his brightly colored, cartoon-esque painting style.

Patrons of The Unknown Bar drink as Hirst’s tripartite shark looks on, suspended over bartenders that swizzle drinks with sticks of Hirst’s design and set them down on napkins that feature his signature spots motif. Colorfully spotted panels encircle the bar and make the atmosphere lively and hip, as well as create a contextual setting for The Unknown, which was installed with extreme secrecy and security under Hirst’s supervision.

A bronze casting of his Demon With Bowl (Exhibition Enlargement) will be the showpiece of the Palms’ new pool area that opens this spring. Observant eyes will find sculpture by Hirst and Kaws on the casino floor, as well as neon phrases by Olivia Steele on wall spaces and awe-inspiring, optically illusory “backlit chromogenic 3D lenticular” works by Robert Munday within the entrance of Scotch 80 Prime restaurant.

Admirers of Shepard Fairey should look for an empty space on The Cosmopolitan’s second self-parking level, close to the elevators where Fairey’s iconic Obey visuals adorn walls. With late wrestler Andre the Giant’s eyes looking on, Fairey mixes a free speech message into the mural, and peace symbolism among visages that resemble Marlene Dietrich and Anjelica Huston. Make an about face, and Los Angeles graffiti artist Retna’s mash-up of Semitic scripts, Asian calligraphy and ancient hieroglyphics calls out from walls on the other side of the garage, drawing attention like a magnet despite the undecipherable syntax.

An argument can be made that the three-story chandelier designed by David Rockwell to dominate the Cosmopolitan’s interior is art, and although the gallery in the Boulevard Tower that served as a conduit for Vegas artists is no more, Kasey McMahon’s wire-and-cable sculpture Connected can be viewed in 360 degrees on the third floor or from nearby restaurants Zuma and Jaleo.

Another work can be seen in the round without leaving a car. Driving around the loop in CityCenter that provides access to Vdara and Aria gives a driver’s side view to Nancy Rubins’ The Big Edge, a sculpture that resembles a colossal pincushion of capsized canoes suspended above ground like a low-hanging cloud. Valet at Aria and take a look at Maya Lin’s Silver River, a wall-length rendition of the Colorado River above the lobby desk that evokes Nevada’s natural topography inside one of its most modern resorts.

The Strip itself can be considered a work of art in progress, but now visitors who promenade across The Park to Golden Knights games at T-Mobile encounter the graceful simplicity of Marco Cochrane’s Bliss Dance, a 40-foot sculpture of a woman illuminated by nearly 3,000 LED lights. Convention-goers at Mandalay Bay walk past multipaneled, mood-reflecting Ventarta 100: Six Elements and the Seasons, which Japanese artist Kisho Mwkaiyama created last year at a studio adjacent to Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art. Laura Kimpton’s red macro-sculpture LOVE at The Venetian’s Waterfall Atrium has become a can’t-miss photo opp, whether as romantic background or four-letter word to interact with.

Or a last stop on a tour of the ever-changing art of Vegas.