MTA Arts in Transit Guest Visit April 29, 2009
Posted by leskanturek in Art History, Guest Visits, Public art.Tags: Amy Hausmann, Guest speaker, MTA Arts In Transit, Subway station proposal
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(Above) Barbara Segal’s “Muhheakantuck (The River that Flows Two Ways), Aluminum reliefs on train overpass (2005) on the Hudson Line /Yonkers
On Monday (April 20th), Amy Hausmann (below-left), the Assistant Director of MTA Arts for Transit, paid a visit to our class to speak abo
ut her department’s mission and role in commissioning artists for site specific, public artwork in the New York transit system.
Statistics on the amount of people using the transit system is staggering, approx. 8 million commuters on a given weekday. That’s per day. Asking for a show of hands of how many students (our class was joined by Wendy Popp’s concepts class.) view art work in the subway during their daily commute, it was an overwhelming majority. This was not always the case. My memory of subway stations while growing up in the 60’s and 70’s is one of decaying, vandalized public spaces. The way we presently experience the subway (and the LIRR and Metro-North) is a testament to the work MTA Arts for transit has done over the last 25 years to change the way we look at the shared public space of the transit system.
Amy started her powerpoint presentation pointing out that from the subway’s inception a mandate was built into it’s mission statement to create and design a visually beautiful public space, “…and enhance the experience of travel.” As Amy stressed , very forward thinking for 1904. MTA Arts for Transit’s budget for projects is derived from a portion of the renovation budget of the station/space to be refurbished. So art works are installed or planned only for a station that is being rehabilitated or improved.
(Above) Art en Route, A pocket guide to art in the MTA Network that was passed out during the visit. You can e-mail a request for a copy at the MTA Art for Transit site.
Amy brought with her pocket guides to some of the art in the MTA system. it’s organized by subway line with called out images of art installations. There is also a book, “Along the Way” by Sandra Bloodworth , Director of MTA Arts for Transit, and William Ayres, curator at the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook. Looking through the guide and book gives you a sense of the varied range of art in the transit system, both in concept and in materials. Donald Lipski’s inverted olive tree
with crystals at Grand Central Terminal, Walter Martin’s and Paloma Munoz’s Canal Street station filled with 174 grackles and blackbirds…the subway is one big art museum.
A number of illustrators have created art for the transit system; Raul Colon, Owen Smith, Milton Glaser, Dave Calver, George Bates (Parsons Illustration Dept. instructor), Peter Sis, Jose Ortega, Edward Del Rosario (Parsons Illustration Dept. instructor) to name a few. In that spirit, finishes for the class assignment of creating proposals for site specific art in individual subway stations were also up on the wall during Amy’s visit. she graciously agreed to critique them and offer her professional opinion .
You can view the entire assignment sheet I handed out in a previous post. In a nut shell, each student created artwork for a subway station of their choice. In the course of creating a proposal students researched the history of the area/station and took into account the 
make up of the community it serves. Each student attempted to integrate their art with the architecture of the station in some way.
Below are some of the assignments.
P(Left) Amy Hausmann criting a student’s proposal
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Paula Searing: Wall Street
Rather than work with Bulls and Bears , I was struck with horses because they can be both graceful and rampant like Wall street’s sides of prosperity and cut throat behavior. The original art is done in acrylic paint, sprayed over stencils.
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Mark Lev: 50th Street
50th Street station ( the 1, 2, 3 line). My subway installation is interactive (a musical component) as well as aesthetic. It consists of several Hang drums (developed in 2000 in Berne Switzerland) of various sizes and tunings, installed into the subway wall. In the above mural they are the blue spheres with darker blue round indentations. The drums can be played without any special tools and create resonant, ghostly tones similar to a steel drum. The effect of several people playing them would be a mass of tones echoing throughout the station creating an eerie but sonorous atmosphere. Colorful, circular tile patterns around each drum seem to ripple across the wall, evoking ideas of sound waves, water droplets, and mimicking the sound qualities of the drums.
Here is a link to a video of the Hang drum being played http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEJc2wKkwjM&feature=PlayList&p=D12F8B5F76C1C4E8&index=32 it’s a very distinctive sound .
William Crosby: Smith-9th Street Subway Station Gowanus
The Smith/9th Street Station · Opened in 1933. The station has the distinction of being the highest elevated station in the system. The station was originally built elevated 91 feet to accommodate tall-mast shipping in the Gowanus Creek under the station.
Evan Turk: Greenpoint Ave. Station Brooklyn
Evan’s mural is a narrative based on the Lenape Indian legend of Rainbow Crow. The Rainbow Crow brings fire from the Great Spirit in the sky to the earth. But due to the smoke he no longer is rainbow-colored , but a black crow. This myth was chosen to reference the Lenape Indians indigenous to the Greenpoint area.
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Julian Uribe: ” Cultural Intertwine” Jackson Heights (7, E, F, G, R, V)
Jackson Heights is one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods and the first garden city in the five boroughs of New York City. I realized in every culture found in Jackson Heights the frog is a common symbol of nature, peace, and power. Ethnic patterns unite with the frog symbol in my design for the station, all of which I hope allow the neighborhood to be more in touch with their diverse ethnic community .
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Julie Pinzur: ” The Bleecker Farm” Bleecker Street (the 6 train)
Ceramic mosaic on walls near the subway exit. Anthony Bleecker, who the street was named after, along with his family owned the land where the station now stands. The scene shows farmland, which is representative of this area in the 1800s. Anthony Bleecker was also one of the founders of the New York Historical Society, and was a trustee of the New York Society Library.
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Naomi Koffman: ” Ghost” 72nd Street/Central Park West
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Jenel Lawson: Lexington Ave. 63rd St. Station
Near this station four embassys are located; France, Italy, Pakastan and India. Different color strands of thread represent each country and stich part of the globe.
Manny Vega/Un Artista Con Alma January 13, 2009
Posted by leskanturek in Artists, Guest Visits, Public art.Tags: Manny Vega, mosaics, murals, Public art, Subway art
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As you step off the train at 110th Street and Lexington in the NYC subway, you find yourself face to face with the art of Manny Vega. four panels, each approximately four feet high depicting scenes of life in the barrio lovingly, painstakingly crafted in mosaics. Un Sabado en la Ciento Diez (A Saturday on 110th Street). Manny took some time out to stop by class this last spring semester to talk about his work, and the process of creating art for the subway and the public. Manny is a self taught craftsman but also an obvious sponge for any knowledge of his craft. In terms of the 110th st. commission I was struck by the relatively short time frame it took him to accomplish such a laborious process. Months versus what I assumed would be a minimum 2 year process with execution and installation.
(Above) 110th street station (6 train) 2 of 4 mosaics , Un Sabado en la Ciento Diez (A Saturday on 110th Street)
A characteristic of Manny that comes out when he speaks and that is also evident in all his meticulously crafted work is Corazón, passion, and a commitment to truly public art. Manny spoke about, what he felt was was his responsibility to represent the community that his work was appearing in. Manny spoke about working on the Portrait of Julia de Burgos mosaic in a storefront and having people in the community stop in and take part in placing tiles. The mural was completed in Oct. 2006
(Above) Portrait of Julia de Burgos. East 106 Street between Lexington and Third Ave. Julia de Burgos was a Puerto Rican poet and civil rights activist who died at 39 in 1953.
(left) Mosaic El Rey Del Pollo at El Malecon Restaurant
Photos by Librado Romero of Manny and his work and audio of Manny speaking about his mosaics and philosophy.
(please note. this is an older post spring 2008 which was reposted – thanks Les)
Mammal Invades like Mongol Hoard December 10, 2008
Posted by leskanturek in Artists, Guest Visits, Visually Cool & Relevant.Tags: Guest speakers, Mammal Magazine, self publishing, sex machine
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Mammal is a self published “pictorial dispatch” that allows it’s founders and contributors to “…produce illustrations, comics and visual editorials that interpret, explore, assault, confront, or straight up disrespect a singular chosen idea. The first issue was about newness, the second , and current issue’s theme was machismo. On Monday November 17th, some of the men from Mammal Magazine (Benjamin Marra , Jim Cooke, Matt Dorfman, Tom Forget, and Dan Meth) converged on room 811 to show their work, talk about art, self publishing, viking destroyers, careers, mistakes, successes, Tom Cruise… really everything and anything.
Missing was sixth mammal founder Devin Clark. One of Devin’s shows was green lit for a pilot and he was dealing with “all the craziness of actually making it”. Contributors Eric Eley and Chris Hosmer reside out of the NYC area were also missed.
(Top) Two of Devin’s Mammal contributions ( left) tEveryday Hairstyles for the Modern Lady, (right) Devin went around the New York Comic con asking attendees to identify as either “Tough” or “Not Tough” and taking their photo. (Lou Ferrigno pictured
I was hoping that along with students seeing a lot of fantastic work, our class would also get a glimpse at the inner workings and group dynamics of self publishing Mammal. I was fortunate to be the fly on the wall during discussions the group had about cover choices and content. It was interesting to see the shift take place from a group of contributors into a group of publishers. This meant in one case being responsible for content that might offend or be construed as racist. It also meant reconciling each persons view of what Mammal is. All this heated discussion went on in a very supportive, articulate atmosphere. Something that really impressed me and seemed to be worthy of holding up as an example.
Jim, Tom, Dan, Matt, Devin and Ben met while attending Syracuse University and become inspired by each others work. All of them have held down various jobs in the arts along with illustrating, including web design, art directing, designing, and animating.
A number of issues were touched upon during the visit. Holding down a number of careers, Illustrator/Designer/animator as entrepreneur, work ethics, and creating work for yourself first and foremost.
A large percentage of an illustrators income, now stems from self generated projects and entrepreneurial ventures versus a model of supporting yourself from commissioned work exclusively . While there were always illustrators and designers that promoted themselves by developing their own projects, today , these self generated projects go beyond promo pieces. Work is sold through their web sites , toys, stock art, fashion accessories and self published books to name a few.
(Top) Ali Stackpole looking through one of Ben Marra’s sketchbooks. right is Ben’s Zombie Traci Lords. Ben was selected/identified as a Young Gun by the Art directors club. His work has appeared in American illustration, 3 X 3, the Society of Illustrators, and the Society of Publication Designers.
(Top left) a portrait of Pat O’Malley for Cleveland Magazine (right)The Curtsy 18×24 poster, silkscreen poster. Both by Matt Dorfman, whose clients include the New York Times, Penguin books, New York magazine, Time, Wired,and Mother Jones. Matt is also the voice of cougar from the Meth Minutes.
(Top) Matt Dorfman (Left) and Jim Cooke
(Top- left to right) by Jim Cooke, Machismo Tom Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer for Esquire, God save the Fan for Harper Collins Publishing. Jim has done work for for FS & G, Harper Collins, Scholastic publishing . and t Black table.com.
(Top) Tom Forget explaining how 1950’s true crime pin-up mags have influenced/corrupted him. Tom is also an author, designer and music reviewer for BUST magazine
(Below) Two paintings by Tom (left) Bionic Commando for I AM 8-BIT Gallery (right) Dolly Parton for the DOLLYPOP show at the World of Wonder storefront gallery in Hollywood
Capping off the class was an amazingly funny reel shown by animator Dan Meth , creator of the online animation series the Meth Minute”, and Nite –fite. This September Dan was a panelist at the Ottawa Animation Festival, as well as the winner of the the Frederator Vanguard award. If you watch many of Dan’s Meth minutes (and I suggest you do) you’ll recognize the voices of most of the Mammal guys. Everything and anything becomes animation material in the hands of Dan, stuffed animals, watermelons, body parts, as well as traditional drawing. Meth minutes can also be viewed on youtube.
(Top) Three stills from Dan’s Meth Minute39 “# 2 Sex Machine“. (Bottom) Devin Clark and Tom Forget… and the Meth Minute characters they lent their voices to September 6, 2007 at Frederator Studios
Mammal is approaching it’s third issue along with independent projects on the horizon for a number of the Mammals, I look forward to seeing how the magazine/collective changes and evolves.
Gretchen Van Lente from Drama of Works Visits October 16, 2008
Posted by leskanturek in 3-D work, Artists, Class Topics, Guest Visits, Narrative, Puppets, Visually Cool & Relevant.Tags: Drama of Works, Gretchen Van Lente, Puppets
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Monday October 13th saw the class not only play host to a lot of Frankenstein puppets or is it a pride of puppets? A clutch? (see the post: Assignment of Frankenstein! for pics of student’s puppets) we also were graced with a visit from Drama of Works (DOW) Artistic Director, and one of it’s founders, Gretchen Van Lente.
Gretchen’s background started with a BFA in illustration, and a BA in Liberal Arts with a concentration in theatre. Gretchen showed an interest early on in mixed media often utilizing both 2-D and 3-D elements in her work.
A visit from Gretchen is a performance in itself as she animatedly speaks about her work while interjecting her talk with demonstrations of puppetry. Gretchen’s artistic passion was inspiring as she presented a
(Above) Scenes from DOW productions of (left) Doubting Dorothy, (Middle) curiouser & curiouser, (Right) Sleepy Hollow
wonderful powerpoint slide show of productions DOW has staged such as; Doubting Dorothy (a version of the Wizard of OZ story), Doctor Faustus, The Ballad of Phineas P. Gage, Titus, The Sid and Nancy Punch and Judy Show, Curiouser & Curiouser (Alice in Wonderland), and Puppet Kafka among others. Gretchen and DOW have maintained an international presence traveling to Puppetry Festivals from Finland to Bali and
(Above) Gretchen demo-ing the bug used in Puppet Kafka which was created out of an overturned basket.
points in between. While traveling Gretchen has had a chance to view a number of different forms and traditions of puppetry. DOW, and Gretchen, favor a “McGyver-esque” approach to narratives and puppets.
(Above) Gretchen holding up a mirror. The image on the mirror (here a hand), causes an ethereal, distorted version of the drawing to appear on objects the reflected light falls on.
Any object that can be manipulated in some way can be used to further a narrative according to Gretchen, so DOW productions tend to utilize traditional puppetry along with the experimental all in the same production.
Puppetry is at a natural intersection between 2-D and 3-D illustration, animation, graphic narratives, in short all the elements that are seen in the new venues that have opened up for illustration in the last few years. View DOW’s collaboration with GH avisualagency on a shadow film for NOKIA which plays on a giant screen at Heathrow airport in London. Also take a look at Dave McKean’s work. McKean was aware very earlier on of this intersection as evidenced not only by the mixture of traditional media and 3-D in his Sandman covers but in his graphic novel The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch by Vertigo. His collaborative film with Neil Gaiman, Mirror Mask was a natural progression of the melding of all these disciplines.
Puppetry, with it’s rich history of traditional craft and experimentation is another branch of a tree also occupied by illustration. Like illustration puppetry has a background of drawing inspiration from literature. Both disciplines utilize some of the same skill sets because they share common goals. I’m hoping that Gretchen’s visit not only inspires potential puppet creators but also influences and expands students notions of the possibilities of illustration.
Thanks for speaking in class Gretchen!
Frankenstein Illustrated/Theodor Von Holst August 28, 2008
Posted by leskanturek in Art History, Artists, Frankenstein, Frankenstein Illustrated, Summer Reading Project.Tags: 1831 edition of Frankenstein, Hanry Fuseli, Theodor Von Holst
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The first edition of Frankenstein was published in 1818. The first instance of it being illustrated is the third edition of 1831 with engraved vignette titles and frontispieces by Theodor Von Holst.
(Above) Pages from the the 1831, 3rd edition, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. These pages do appear as a spread in the book. (Left) The text on the frontispiece reads: ‘By the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs … I rushed out of the room’, (right) Frankenstein departs from Elizabeth.
Theodor Von Holst
A 19th century British painter, and the first artist to tackle illustrating Frankenstein. Von Holst was mentored by Henry Fuseli whom he met as a student at the Royal Academy of Arts in London where Fuseli was a Professor of Painting. Von Holst was a student of Fuseli’s for only a year when Fuseli died in 1825. Henry Fuseli had a huge influence on Von Holst despite the short time period. He (Fuseli) is of course the well known painter of supernatural subjects (you probably know his 1781 painting “ Nightmare”).
(Above) The Nightmare, 1781 by Henry Fuseli
Von Holst’s work is very reminiscent of Fuseli’s. He gained a reputation of illustrating the German Romantics (Goethe’s Faust) as well as the supernatural, so his choice as illustrator seems fitting.
(Above) Two painting by Von Holst done around the same timeas the illustrations for Frankenstein. (Left) Bertalda, Assailed by Spirits c.1830, (right) Bertalda Frightened by Apparitions c.1830-1835
A note about Henry Fuseli. Fuseli was Swiss born, and the idea for Frankenstein was conceived in Switzerland near lake Geneva as well as part of the book’s plot takes place in Switzerland. It is also worth mentioning that Mary Shelley’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, had an affair with Fuseli.
Lite on the Starch…er A-1 sauce Please July 31, 2008
Posted by leskanturek in Artists, Class Topics, Surreal, Visually Cool & Relevant.Tags: Magritte, Meat clothes, Surreal
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If I were clueless enough to point out that clothes can be art there would be such a large collective groan from the student body that surely it would initiate some natural catastrophe. That disclaimer having been said…conceptual clothing seems to be a must mention for a concepts class.
Above (Left) David Byrne –photo by Annie Leibovitz (Right) Condom Dress – Adriana Bertini
Annie Leibovitz’s hommage above to Belgian surrealist René Magritte will also be mentioned in the post “The Treachery of Images”.
Meat as clothing could be it’s own sub category. As a side note artist Pinar Yolacan photographs portraits of ladies wearing clothes fashioned from meat parts and Italian artist Simone Rachel has constructed household items ( a hair blower, a mixer, a chair out of meat. I’m sure this is just the tip of the ice…uh pork chop. I’ve just posted the following:
Above (Left) photo by Michelle Nolan (Right) Meat Dress by Canadian artist Jana Sterbak
Photographer Philip Toledano has created a baby suit, a dress made out of breasts among others. I suggest you check out his site, it is stunning.
Any clothes you’ve encountered please let me know , I’ll try and post them. As always the source/credit is a must. -L
