This artwork, part of a movement called Public Gallery NYC, is something I pass almost every day in Brooklyn on Mill Avenue and Avenue U. I first noticed it two years ago on my way to school because the bus I took went down that street. I was very impressed and excited because the artists put their work on what used to be a plain old brick wall that’s very easy to see. It wasn’t an eyesore but it wasn’t too far off, so the addition of this piece completely transformed that area. It features seven pieces, all seemingly unrelated. This project was the only project completed for the movement whose goal was to be the “world’s first outdoor gallery. A brand new concept. Bringing framed, gallery-quality artwork to the walls of New York City,” according to their instagram bio (@publicgallerynyc).
The project was not done anonymously, in fact each of the seven framed works has a description next to it with the artist’s name, the title of the work, the medium, the size, and three pieces of contact information for the artist. Each piece of artwork was done by a different artist- four of which used spray paint while the other three used acrylic and latex. The works vary in size but are all an average size in comparison to the wall: none small enough to make you squint, but none big enough to take away from any other piece. You can only view the entire project by standing across the street since it takes up the whole wall horizontally, and this can be tricky because of all the cars passing, but if you’re in a car on the side of the street that has the artwork it’s easy to observe. Each piece stands out against the stark white wall, and especially against a largely dreary area.
I think the artists are hoping 
for it to last, but its ephemeral nature is evident in the fact that someone has vandalized the piece all the way on the left, “Love Yourself”. The piece features Kanye West standing against a vibrant light blue background that seems to be a wall with “love yourself” written on it. “Love” has a piece sign for the letter o as well as a heart for the letter v. The artist, John Westbay, works with concepts of love and peace. He says on his instagram (@westgard) that he chose to feature Kanye West in this piece to be comical, but that element is no longer present since someone painted over his face which speaks for the artwork’s impermanence. All of the other pieces in the gallery however have remained untouched.
I’m curious about how the curator of this project chose each artist since this person wasn’t working towards a particular image except to get amazing work featured on public New York City walls. A quick look at each artist’s instagram shows that their work for this project is just like the rest of their work, which leads me to believe that the curator probably chose to showcase these artists to get their names and their work out in the open in addition to sprucing up a plain area.
