42nd Street Times Square Subway Mezzanine Art, Right Side

tags: , , , , , ,

New York in Transit, 2001. Photographed from the right side.

Artist: Jacob Lawrence. Glass mosaics on stairway wall between N, Q, W, R and S mezzanines.

Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].

The enormous mosaic mural is the focal point of the mezzanine in the Times Square subway complex. Its shimmering and detailed surface pays tribute to the diversity and strength of New York City - its neighborhoods, cultural life, recreational pleasures, love of sports and, of course, its subway system. New York in Transit was Jacob Lawrence's last public work. In it he evokes city life seen from an elevated train and the sensitive and loving portrait shows a slice of city life and is a parting gift to New York City, seen by millions of people who live and visit here.

I have photographed glass tile mosaic artworks from several NYC subway stations now, so far, all are westside Manhattan subway lines; including the Cathedral Parkway/110th Street platform (downtown-bound 1 train only); the mezzanine walls of the 42nd Street (Times Square) for the A, C and E trains; 42nd street/Times Square upstairs platform (1, 2 & 3 trains); 42nd Street/Times Square passageway between the 8th Avenue/Port Authority Bus Terminal (A, C, & E trains) and the 7th Avenue/Broadway (1, 2, & 3 trains) platforms; West 66th street/Lincoln Center Station (1 train); West 34th Street/Pennsylvania Station (A, C & E trains); Chambers Street (A & C trains); Houston Street (1 train); and Pennsylvania "Penn" station (1, 2 & 3 trains) [subway art archives] and, my favorite subway station of all, the American Museum of Natural History station at 81st and Central Park West (B & C trains) [AMNH archives].

More like this