Category: Subway Art

Subway Artist Profile: Richard Estes

Richard Estes, The L Train, 2009

From Wikipedia

Richard Estes is an American artist, best known for his photorealist paintings. The paintings generally consist of reflective, clean, and inanimate city and geometric landscapes. He is regarded as one of the founders of the international photo-realist movement of the late 1960s, with such painters as Ralph Goings, Chuck Close, and Duane Hanson. Author Graham Thompson wrote, “One demonstration of the way photography became assimilated into the art world is the success of photorealist painting in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is also called super-realism or hyper-realism and painters like Richard Estes, Denis Peterson, Audrey Flack, and Chuck Close often worked from photographic stills to create paintings that appeared to be photographs.”

Richard Estes at Marlborough Gallery

Richard Estes on Artnet

Poster Boy’s Latest

PB takes a crack at Bedford Ave hipsters in his latest mashup. Pay Poster Boy a visit on flickr!

The Artist’s Commute – Christopher Pace

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to the work of artist/designer Christopher Pace. Like other artists I’ve spotlighted in this feature, Chris makes portraits of people on the subway. His process, though, is unlike that of anyone I’ve interviewed before. Chris’ portraits are digital, made pixel by pixel on his phone in a video game-esque style.

Here’s more about the artist in his own words:

Where are you from? How long have you been in New York?

I am originally from New York the state, but have been in NYC for the past 15 years. Moved out here for school and stuck around.

Why do you do portraits of people on the subway?

One of my favorite classes when I was a student was location drawing, it was always interesting (and pretty challenging) to draw an environment that was alive, and had little if any idea you were there. Drawing people on the subway is an extension of that. As for choosing who I draw a portrait of, sometimes a person will just sit down and I will think “wow, I need to draw that guy/girl”. It could be anything, nice clothing, interesting face, hideous hairstyle, not too much rhyme or reason there.

What is your process like? How long does each piece take you?

Pixel portraits are kind of new for me, so I am still feeling this part out. They’re all done on my phone while on the train, using a program called TinyPixels (unsolicited plug, it’s actually a really well-done app). I start with a quick sketch using some ugly color on white, and create a few swatches of any of the standout colors in the peoples’ outfits or skin tones, stuff I might otherwise forget. This part is usually really rough, especially in pixels; only I know what the different pieces are. Then I slowly work back into it laying in color and shading. The ads or maps are usually the very last piece, they’re usually whatever happens to be around me when I get to that part. I actually have as much fun with the tiny ads as the whole rest of the piece.

Because I do them pretty much only on the train (about 30 min back and forth) and sometimes I have to focus more on holding a rail or eating a bagel, a piece can take me upwards of a month and a half.

Why do you use pixelation in your work?

I grew up with Nintendo and SNES, so the small sprite thing resonates with me, but I was always very struck by the pixel work in Roberta Williams and Lucas Arts adventure games. They were great examples of illustrators given the restrictions of VGA graphics and they were able to create amazing pieces within them. I’d say that these pieces are in homage to them, but it really wasn’t so conscious a decision.

What is your art/design background?

I went to art school, and have a degree in interactive media, but have always had a huge interest in traditional design and illustration, so I love to explore where those places can overlap. I recently started an interactive design shop called Charming Robot with a friend of mine. Outside of all that, my own illustration happens in my free time, wherever I can grab it. Like on the train.

Visit Chris’ tumblr page for more of his wonderful drawings!


UR New York’s Own Art Cards

Have you ever been annoyed by how boring the MTA’s ‘art cards’ are? (those long art posters inside the newer subway cars) I certainly have. Graffiti writers turned art collective UR New York have made it their mission to make some art cards that are more reflective of the city the are supposed to represent.

UR went to the MTA first—they approached the Arts For Transit program to submit work—but were turned down. “They were kind of one sided and only really giving older established artists shine and weren’t open to new ideas, so we figured we’d take back the public space adding our own twist,” said one of the artists involved.

It’s safe to assume that Arts For Transit shrugged this work off because of the graffiti influence. It’s a shame though, because UR’s art seems to portray the city’s grittiness better than any of the art picked for the official cards. On the bright side, now that their focus is no longer on the Miami exhibition, UR plans on designing and placing even more of these.

UR New York is showing work (along with several other subway artists) in an exhibition called “Rather Unique” at the Woodward Gallery. Come check out the opening on Saturday!

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Guest City: Beantown – MBTA Dispatcher Decks the Halls

A transit employee was responsible for this awesome prank on the red line in Boston. Unfortunately, the MTBA had said they were going to reprimand the employee. Have some holiday spirit MBTA! Check out this article on The Globe for more info.

Thanks to @Trabant on Twitter for sharing!

Seen at Fountain Art Fair Miami 2011

I caught this piece at Fountain Miami referencing the MTA’s infamous fear campaign. I didn’t catch the artist’s name. Please leave a comment if you know!

Art Basel Miami 2011- Underbelly Miami Gallery Walkthrough

In case you couldn’t make it out to Miami, here is a walkthrough of the entire Underbelly show!

Art Basel Miami 2011 – Cope2’s Rise to the Occasion

NYC graffiti king COPE2 also showed paintings during Art Basel in Miami at his solo show called “Rise to the Occasion.” In many ways his work was similar to UR New York’s—a mix of collage, painting and tagging. COPE also references the subway in his work with subway cars and wet paint signs.



Check out COPE’s site for more!

Seanna Sharpe Performs High Above the JMZ

Aerialist Seanna Sharpe 285 Feet Over The Williamsburg Bridge from Ronen V on Vimeo.

This past summer, aerialist Seanna Sharpe performed and acrobatics show illegally on the Willamsburg Bridge, swinging high above the JMZ line for passers by. Check out this video about the whole shebang!

Miami Art Basel 2011 – John Gagliano, “Sold My Soul for a G Train”

While roaming the streets of Wynwood in Miami, I found some fun subway art in a very unlikely place: an ice cream truck. One gallery took the less expensive route by selling art out of the back of this vehicle (seen below).

John Gagliano is the artist behind this very epic painting called “Sold My Soul for a G Train.” If only waiting for the G were actually this interesting.

 

 

Fun with Wet Paint Signs: Miami Edition

It appears as though some awesome person brought NYC subway wet paint signs to Miami to create some fun anagrams. The number of New Yorkers and New York inspired art here is uncanny!

 

Miami Art Basel 2011 – Leandro Erlich, “Global Express”

I found this awesome video piece by Leandro Erlich on the showroom floor at Art Basel. The video is a loop of views outside subway car windows from all over the world. Each clip is stitched together to look like one seamless trip. Even cooler is that the LCD TV is made to look like the window of a subway car, completing the experience.

Check out Leandro’s official site.