Spirit of NYC

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on June 29, 2016 at 4:10pm

Curator’s Comments:

 

I recognize Spirit of NYC was created several years ago, but just coming across it now, I appreciate the aesthetic choices made by introducing figurative elements into the pattern of urban architecture.  Your other New York skylines are perhaps more graphic and attention grabbing with their empty void where the twin towers once stood.  But aside from their inherent emotional charge, this piece evokes a sultry mood recalling jazz music of the city.  The dramatic temperature shifts between orange and blue resonate in the solid geometric color blocking in the structures, while the same but more subtle tinted hues are reflected in the water below.  While the horizon splits the piece almost in half, I appreciate the way in which color and texture transverse across the boundary. This painting is still representational, but I also have a preference for more abstracted works such as Jeux des lumineres.  The undulating lines evoke a musical arrangement, despite lacking specific references or shapes.  In this way the piece functions and succeeds on a purely visual rather than descriptive level.