Carrying On

Carrying On, 2004
Janet Zweig
Waterjet-cut steel, marble, and slate
frieze at Prince St. subway station, NYC
photos by Robbie Rosenfeld


Someone sent me a link to a work in the nyc subway and in the process of looking for more about it I discovered the subway art guide on nycsubway.org. I immediately scanned through to find recognizable works and yay! I found this by Janet Zweig. Read more about the frieze by clicking on the title. Also check out the subway art guide! My lunch hour is almost over, but I will add some more commentary later because I really love this work. Enjoy!

This may turn into a public art week.

Subway

Subway, 1950
George Tooker
egg tempera on composition board
18 1/8 x 36 1/8 in.
Whitney Museum of American Art



Another new discovery, I love George Tooker's urban scenes. His figures cut a generic, androgynous appearance, each nearly indistinguishable from the next except for lines and clothing choices made to distinguish man from woman. The figure in the foreground seems obviously a woman due to Tooker's choices for detail (dress, shoes and hair) but when she is broked down she still remains "gently androgynous" (An Interview with Tooker interview, Justin Spring). His approach to the city world is a depressing one, yet makes for thoughtful and considered subject matter in painting.

His work is often categorized as magic realism ("Term coined by German [art] critic Franz Roh in 1925 to describe the aspect of Neue Sachlichkeit characterized by sharp focus detail"--Chilvers, Concise Oxford dictionary of art & artists) or symbolic realism, both terms which Tooker was not a fan of but depending on they are interpreted his works sometimes falls into and out of the categorization. The art associated with terms was often tinged with surrealism (de Chirico)

Art: Revival of George Tooker's 'Magic Realism'