When you're stuck in traffic or wandering the streets of Manhattan, keep your eyes open for manhole covers printed with mysterious conceptual conceits. As part of his retrospective, opening this week at the Whitney, Lawrence Weiner has installed manholes all over town bearing the phrase "In direct line with another & the next."

(IN DIRECT LINE WITH ANOTHER & THE NEXT Lawrence Weiner, 2000. Cast-iron manhole cover , 31 15/16 in. (81.1cm). Public Art Fund project in collaboration with Con Edison and Roman Stone, New York, Courtesy Moved Pictures Archive, New York. Photograph by Kirsten Weiner)

Known for printing words on bridges, buildings and walls of houses, Weiner is unafraid to think large.  Here, he shows a more discreet touch.  In a town where nobody looks up, he's hiding secrets before the eyes, and under the wheels, of the masses.

--David Coggins