Cassandra Giacci is an emerging Brooklyn artist, originally from Long Island. She is showing her work at Verlaine, a bar at 110 Rivington Street for the next few weeks, with an opening from 6-10pm tonight, March 9th. Cassy says she will actually be giving away some of her works at the opening, so you better stop on by after work!
Poster Boy, "Unfare"
In his first new advertising mashup flickr post since April 2009, Poster Boy targets the subway fare. The work is probably not current considering there are no Harry Potter ads in circulation right now, but is an older work posted for the first time to draw attention to a petition to save student MetroCards which he linked to in the image’s caption. We encourage you to sign it and help this cause!
In other Poster Boy-related news, it seems his upcoming book, The War of Art, will be released later than originally expected. The publisher’s website sets the release as May 2010, although Amazon.com still has the date as March 23rd. The book is expected to include many of his works which were completed after he stopped posting on flickr.
"Starry Eyed Sea"
Gina Martynova is a New York-based illustrator. Her work has a whimsical, fantastical style which has been achieved through the use of watercolor paints. One of Gina’s projects is a blog called In Transit, where she posts her studies of New Yorkers in flux. We asked her a few questions about this work which can be found below.
Why do you draw people on the subway?
I draw people on the subway because I am intrigued by the lines and shapes the human body and clothing forms while in public transit. It started out as an assignment for a drawing class and later grew into an ongoing hobby. There is just something very captivating about this situational moment in time that creates interesting lines and layout — it’s almost as if that person is my muse for the 5 minutes that they can spare. I also like to convey their emotions — it’s interesting to capture feelings because I have noticed that people can be very transparent in evoking their feelings in public places.
What is your process? How long does it usually take you to draw someone?
My process varies from person to person depending on how much time I have. It usually takes around 5-8 minutes to draw someone from head to toe. I tend to draw people that create an interesting composition and negative space. I start with the head and upper torso. If I have time and they haven’t moved or gotten up, I draw the rest of their body. I use a Faber-Castell artist pen, which is India ink in a sepia tone.
Have you ever run into a situation where the person realized you were drawing them? If so, what happened?
This happens a lot if the person is awake! When it does I get different responses. One man seemed very happy to be drawn and after I was done came to take a look. Another young man reading a religious book seemed very annoyed at my actions and got up to move as far away from me as possible! Women I draw are either complimented or become very insecure and sometimes stand up so as to prevent me from continuing. It’s very interesting. I have yet to encounter someone that is really offended or gets angry. Overall I think people in New York are curious.
You can find more of Gina’s work on her portfolio site at ginamartynova.com.
Nikki Yeager, Ratty McRat Face, Mixed Media on Canvas
Nikki Yaeger is a young local artist originally from Wickliffe, Ohio. She works primarily in mixed media with a focus on the New York scene. The piece above, Ratty McRat Face is a perfect example of the energy and lightheartedness that defines her art. Nikki is showing three of her other works from February 25th – March 11th at the Gallery 2/20 located at 220 West 16th Street in Manhattan, with an opening reception 6pm on February 27th.
For Amitai Plasse, New York life is pretty hectic. With a demanding job and three young kids, the 30 minutes of free time in the morning and evening that the subway offers him is a valuable opportunity to sketch. Of his commute, Ami says: “it keeps me loose, provides me with some good material for character drawings, and is more than just a little cathartic.”
After scanning the subway car to find an interesting subject, Ami uses his Moleskine pad and whatever other tools that happen to be in his pocket (ballpoint pens, markers and watercolor pastels) to start sketching. His mission from here is to document his subject’s essence; that is, whatever is most important about them—an expression, a gesture—as quickly as possible. The challenge, as he describes it, is that things can break up pretty quickly. “My sketches can last from anywhere between 30 seconds and 10 minutes on the train, and then often some time finishing up after the fact.”
I asked Ami if he had any fun stories of people’s reactions to his work underground. There were several occasions, he described, where you would have people striking a pose or, inversely, sliding away. Others are simply curious about how they are being depicted. “Once I was drawing a transit worker,” he said, “directing people on the platform at Fulton Street. She was a heavyset woman and I was just into the sketch when she started walking over to me to see what I was doing. All I had was a rather bubbly, quick sketch of her and she sadly said, ‘Yah, I know I have to lose a little weight.’ I felt kinda bad on that one.”
Finally, Ami had this to say about his relationship with the subway: “So many folks look at the train as an annoyance or a hassle. I look at it as a source of endless personalities and stories. As I look around the car—filled with white, black and all shades in between, jabbering away in countless languages, millionaire investment bankers shoved in with homeless people, kids on their way to school, construction workers, secretaries, professionals, whathaveyou—my mind wanders and I wonder who they all are, where are they going, where they are from, what goes on in their lives. It gets the imagination rolling.”
Ami online:
Portfolio: http://www.amiplasse.com
Subway Drawing Blog: http://amiunderground.blogspot.com
Etsy Store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/amiplasse
In our new feature, The Artist’s Commute, we will be exploring the idea of the subway as a subject and a location in which to make art. Each post will feature an artist whose work documents life underground.
Our first, Jeanne Verdoux, is a Paris-born artist living in Brooklyn. In her project “New Yorkers on the Subway,” she uses New Yorker subscription cards as her canvas and random people riding the subway as her subject. From her artist’s statement:
The ‘New Yorkers on the Subway’ project started in 2002 and is still in progress. Using the train as an art studio, I have been observing and drawing random people in everyday life traveling on the MTA trains. My interest is to explore human nature as well as attitudes and trends to create a portrait of the city.
You can find several more images from this series on Jeanne’s blog, Today’s Drawing.
The next big subway art book is on its way out. Poster Boy: The War of Art
His cut and slash mash-ups of subway platform billboards only exist in New York City, but Poster Boy’s artful and funny appropriations of advertising have gotten him attention the world over. The New York Times dubbed him an “anti-consumerist Zorro with a razor blade, a sense of humor and a talent for collage”; the Guardian UK said of his work, it “is witty, web-savvy and economical . . . and the only materials it requires are chutzpah, imagination and a 50 cent blade.”
Poster Boy tweaks corporate copy, replacing it with incisive and playful puns and turns of phrase rich with innuendo and political punch. Beautiful models turn ghastly and iconic spokespeople become the mouthpieces for Poster Boy’s ideas. Poster Boy: The War of Art collects his best work yet.
The book is set for release on March 2nd, 2010, but you can preorder it on Amazon. I did as soon as I found out about it. Check back in March for a review!
The artists with their work. Photo by Benjamin Kabak of Second Avenue Sagas
A few weeks ago, the MTA unveiled its latest official commissioned subway art installation called “Overlook.” The piece consists of granite and glass overhangs overlooking the lower level of the new Atlantic Avenue terminal building. Allan and Ellen Wexler, the husband and wife team of artists responsible for the Overlook recently sat down with Benjamin Kabak of Second Avenue Sagas for an interview. From said interview:
“We sought to create the experience of viewing an urban public space as if it were a nature setting, using granite tiles mathematically pixilated to create nooks and crannies similar to those found in rock walls,” Allan Wexler said. “Our public work seeks to engage the people who use the space, creating a rich experience that resonates over time.”
Check out the rest of the interview and more photos of the Overlook here on Second Avenue Sagas.
