Thursday, April 23, 2009

Art in the Subways

I want to see the movie Earth, but E won't go with me because she says it's all just footage from the Planet Earth series. Well, some of us have never had cable! The other thing I wanted to see was the This American Life Live broadcast in theaters tonight, but I just had so many other little things I had to do. I bet it was really interesting--maybe I can catch the encore presentation in May.

I love how the subway stations all have artwork in them. Public buildings and gathering places all ought to have personality and beautiful elements, and not just be utilitarian. Speaking of art in subways, there is someone who is taking advantage of all the wall-space and foot traffic. There is a man who has been hanging his photography on the walls of the 59th Street/Columbus Circle station, near the 57th Street exit. The photographs are of New York places, some quite abstract, and all are signed, matted, and wrapped in plastic, ready to sell. They are taped in a neat, evenly spaced row, along the walls that line the steps, where people cannot help but see them as they hurry to and from life in midtown. I noticed the artist chatting with someone the first day, and today he was busy hanging more photos. I wonder how business has been? Actually, the first thing I thought of when I saw this impromptu art gallery was, what a great idea! Maybe it's illegal to turn a public building into your place of business, but the entrepreneurial spirit is still going strong in America.

3 comments:

Just Julie said...

I just saw Earth today and was amazed by it!

Jenn said...

That mural is really neat. I didn't know that they had anything different than garfatti (sp) in subways1

Did you get the freebie offer that went with seeing the movie on opening week? I don't remember what it was but they advertised something when we saw Hannah Montanna!

Lady Holiday said...

I still haven't seen Earth, but I will soon. And actually Red, although there is graffiti in the subways, many of the stations have major art installations as well. I'll have to show some more of them on here one day.