Grand Central Catwalk
I see this humorous little piece nearly every day when I step onto the R train to get to school or go home. It’s combination of cartoon-like drawing with somewhat surrealist imagery inserts a little dreaminess into the mundane world of the slow R train. Especially since this image is only featured on the newer, cool-colored, white-fluorescent-lit R trains, its bright colors pop out of its surroundings in a playful and attention-grabbing manner.
When you look at this piece for the first time, (after you notice it is not one of the flashy banner advertisements) it is fun to find all the strange combinations between people and fixtures — one man wears a clock on his head and a woman wears a clock-hat and clock-base dress ensemble — and considering NYC, these fashion statements are not all that surprising. The artist seems to be making a statement about New Yorkers as well: the people depicted walking in Grand Central on (presumably) a normal day are dressed in quite haute couture. Perhaps being overly fashion conscious can be a little silly? The poster’s location above the train window also sets up an ideal situation for juxtaposition between the commuters in the poster, and the real life commuters just outside the train. All of the people in the picture are wrapped up in their own activities and mostly walking in the same direction — and so are the people outside the R!
This one particular poster is part of a larger project, Arts for Transit. This MTA program works with artists to create transit-related artwork which is placed throughout the subway system on about a yearly basis. The most recent body of work focused on Grand Central Station, commemorating its hundred-year anniversary. Marcos Chin, an award-winning illustrator, is the contributing artist for this piece. The project aims to bring art to the public and beautify the transit system. While I personally do not find this to be the most gorgeous piece of art, it does make me lighten up after I groan at the thirteen remaining stops on my R train commute!
I like your attention to the different lighting on various trains and how it changes the art – great observation!