Skip to main content

Underground Art: A Times Square Subway Gallery

DSCN1435

"Underground Art" usually brings to mind images of rebellious artists challenging the norms of the art world of whatever year, but in this case—and many others—the meaning is literal, and the works are in the subway. Of course, New York is not the only city with well-decorated transit (I grew up on tales of how the Moscow Metro resembled a museum gallery), but it turns out to be one of the biggest collections, most of it installed over the past 15 or 20 years. Click on any picture for a larger view!

DSCN1434 DSCN1437

 This blog is focused on a series of 35 ceramics by Toby Buonagurio called "Times Square Times: 35 Times." And of course, it's in the Times Square station. As I took the pictures for today's blog, I created a small sensation. Several people stopped to see what I was taking pictures of; one even took a picture of me taking a picture! Some told me this was the first they had noticed the art—which was installed in 2004—although they pass it every day. Another told me that he goes out of his way to admire it every day.

DSCN1463

DSCN1446 DSCN1443

I have to confess to having passed by any number of times before my wife and I noticed it, and I kept promising myself that I'd come back and photograph the series. In the end, all at one end of the Times Square station, I photographed not one, but three art projects. In the same area is a series of wall tilings called "Revelers" by Jane Dixon, and two large wall murals by Jack Beal (just below. And yes, those are real people blended into the second one.

DSCN1429

DSCN1428

 

Next to one of the Beal murals, I also found Malang Jobateh, playing a "kora," a West
African instrument that combines half a large gourd with a cowskin resonator and strings to produce a harp-like sound. He's part of a program that licenses professional musicians to play inside the system—there are amazing and diverse sounds to be heard in the subway these days!

DSCN1432 DSCN1433  

I also found a guide to what I was seeing, and to where I'll be going to look at more: a more or less complete catalog of subway art installations is HERE To my pleased surprise, the installations aren't limited to a few showcase stations; they are spread out to far places in the system.

 

848px-Astor_Pl_station_2 postdif

It's also true that these are not the first artworks in the system; even at the beginning there were station plaques that used locality motifs: a beaver at Astor Place (the Astors made their money in the fur trade), a steamboat at Fulton Street, a galleon at Columbus Circle... A sample from Astor Place above; only a few of these have survived a century of first neglect and then renovation.

 

DSCN1448

As I photographed the Buonagurio works, I had difficulty with the reflections of the lights and other reflections of the station on their glass covers, as you can see just above. I've done my best to minimize them, but they are also what you see when you see them up close—and in a way, they are really part of the picture. Short of a complete light baffle...no way!

DSCN1442 DSCN1445

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these as much as I have, and will come visit them and the rest of our grand collection of "underground art." At $2.50 admission, including a ride between galleries, it's quite a bargain.

 

DSCN1439

DSCN1441DSCN1449

DSCN1450DSCN1451

 

 

And the Revelers...

DSCN1452DSCN1453

DSCN1454DSCN1455

DSCN1456DSCN1457

DSCN1458

 

DSCN1461DSCN1462

DSCN1464DSCN1466

DSCN1468DSCN1475

DSCN1477DSCN1482

 

 

Click on the thumbnail slideshow below for even more images...

 

Attachments

Images (44)
  • 848px-Astor_Pl_station_2 postdif
  • DSCN1428
  • DSCN1429
  • DSCN1430
  • DSCN1431
  • DSCN1432
  • DSCN1433
  • DSCN1434
  • DSCN1435
  • DSCN1437
  • DSCN1439
  • DSCN1441
  • DSCN1442
  • DSCN1443
  • DSCN1445
  • DSCN1446
  • DSCN1448
  • DSCN1449
  • DSCN1450
  • DSCN1451
  • DSCN1452
  • DSCN1453
  • DSCN1454
  • DSCN1455
  • DSCN1456
  • DSCN1457
  • DSCN1458
  • DSCN1459
  • DSCN1460
  • DSCN1461
  • DSCN1462
  • DSCN1463
  • DSCN1464
  • DSCN1465
  • DSCN1466
  • DSCN1468
  • DSCN1470
  • DSCN1472
  • DSCN1475
  • DSCN1477
  • DSCN1478
  • DSCN1480
  • DSCN1481
  • DSCN1482

The best part of every trip is realizing that it has upset your expectations

Add Comment

Comments (1)

Newest · Oldest · Popular
Post
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×