#mtaxart

[pattifog]

Stepping out

[mtaartsdesign]

In Memoriam

We are saddened to share news of the passing of Terry Adkins, whose artwork at the Metro North Railroad Harlem-125th Street station is viewed by thousands each day.  We celebrate Akins achievements and send heartfelt condolences his family, friends and admirers.

Terry Adkins

1953-2014

In 1999, Arts for Transit commissioned sculptor Terry Adkins to create Harlem Encore, an artwork that included two distinct silhouetted aluminum relief panels on the Metro North’s two-mile Park Avenue Viaduct at the Harlem-125th Street station section. The work celebrates Harlem's past achievements and bright future. In the polished images that flank the bridge's western façade, Adkins has memorialized the Afro-Atlantic ancestors with figures that reflect the spiritual triumph over adversity. On the eastern side the art salutes continuity and urban life with figures seen in the midst of skyscrapers. On both sides, sphinxes and streaming suns add strength, dignity, and timelessness. At night, blue back lighting accentuates Harlem Encore's powerful presence on the street. Please read the Art in America article celebrating the life of Terry Adkins here.

[mtaartsdesign]

Here is a wonderful sneak peek video of the future Fulton Center! It’s amazing what happens when art, architecture and engineering unite.

Sky Reflector-Net (2014) © James Carpenter Design Associates, Grimshaw Architects, and Arup, Fulton Center. Commissioned and owned by Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts for Transit and Urban Design.

[mtaartsdesign]

Have you seen the new Poetry in Motion yet? Chase Twichell’s poem To the Reader: Twilight, is paired beautifully across with a detail from artist Felipe Galindo’s drawing for his glass artwork, Magic Realism in Kingsbridge, located at the 231st Street station on the 1 Line. We love collaborating  with our friends at the Poetry Society of America!

[mtaartsdesign]

 As the summer is coming to an end and the kids are heading back to school… (-__-) here’s a #TBT poster from 2008 portraying NYC full of commuters, much like how the city feels after summer break. Artist Carlo Stanga created Embrace, capturing the energy and motion of Manhattan’s landmarks and MTA subway within this amazing 24-hour city. 

[mtaartsdesign]

In Memoriam

We are saddened to share news of the passing of two stellar artists, whose artwork graced subway stations in New York City, where they are seen by thousands each day.  We celebrate Jack Beal’s and Helene Brandt’s artistic achievements and mourn their loss.  Heartfelt condolences to their family, friends and admirers.

Jack Beal

1931-2013

Trained as an abstract expressionist, Jack Beal soon turned toward figuration in his works, eventually achieving great success and becoming a leading realist. His dramatic murals The Return of Spring and The Onset of Winter located at the Time Square-42nd Street station link the subway to the classical Greek myth of Persephone, exploring the relationship between goings-on above ground and below.  They are a stunning pair of mosaics and fitting tribute to the artist’s achievement. 

Beal died peacefully August 29, 2013 in Oneonta, NY. He is survived by his wife, artist Sondra Freckelton.

  Helene Brandt

1936-2013

Helene Brandt created  vibrant and expressive sculpture in metal that evokes energy and movement.   In her native Bronx, she collaborated with Acconci Studio and di Domenico + Partners at the 161st Street- Yankee Stadium station and created a site-specific mosaic artwork.  Within the walls that open in Vito Acconci’s shifting architectural forms Helene Brandt’s Room of Tranquility is revealed, where all is peaceful, still and reassuring, achieving a place of serenity, so close to the roar of the stadium crowds. 

Brandt died suddenly on August 27, 2013 on vacation in North Carolina.  She is survived by her husband, Dr. Philip Brandt,  children and grandchildren.

Images: Jack Beal, The Onset of Winter, 2005.

Helene Brandt, Room of Tranquility, 2002.

Photos by Rob Wilson. 

[mtaartsdesign]

Exhibition Tuesday! Today we feature two wonderful AFT artists who have exhibitions up right now:

Ellen Harvey completed two AFT projects: The Home of the Stars at Metro-North’s Yankee Stadium- 153rd Street and Look Up, Not Down at Queens Plaza. She is featured in a solo show, “NOW at the Corcoran, The Alien’s Guide to the Ruins of Washington, D.C.” on view at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C until October 6, 2013.

Donald Lipski, who created the shimmering permanent sculpture, Sirshasana, above the market of Grand Central Terminal, recently installed Hiding My Candy, at San Diego New Central Library. 

Images:

Donald Lipski, Sirshasana, 1998.

Donald Lipski, Hiding My Candy, 2013.

Ellen Harvey, Alien Souvenir Stand, 2013. 

Ellen Harvey, Home of the Stars, 2009.

[mtaartsdesign]

Masstransiscope is back! One of NYC’s most beloved public art projects, Bill Brand’s Masstransiscope, re-opened this week in the tunnels near the DeKalb station in downtown Brooklyn.  The zoetropic work, installed in 1980, is made up of 228 colorful images which can be seen by riders on the inbound B or Q trains. The animated work has been a favorite for generations of New York subway riders, and Brooklynites in particular. It’s been restored after vandals defaced the artwork and we are thrilled to see it again.  So after you go to the amazing Afropunk Festival  this weekend in Fort Greene, take a ride into Manhattan and keep your eyes peeled to see if for yourself!