Sato Sakura Gallery

Wandering around the streets of Chelsea, I stopped to take a quick breath when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a gallery of paintings to my right. I decided to take a chance and enter the unusual space. Initially, I expected to see the standard exhibit of four white walls, but to my surprise this was a very different take on such a traditional display.

Playful Carps; Reiji Hiramatsu; Mineral Pigments, Gelatine, Japanese Paper

As I strolled through the gallery, the Playful Carps lay against the set of white walls and caught my eye with its vivid conglomeration of pinks and purples. The plain white environment surrounding the busy and saturated art piece, indefinitely augments the colors and the bloom of the Playful Carps; it enhances the bold features of the two. Initially, it was hard for me to digest all of the spots of color and white on the canvas. It’s a lot on the eyes as the petal-like spots take up 90% of the canvas, and it took my attention away from the two carps placed at the bottom. The two carps of white, orange, and spots of black seem to be swimming in a pool of purple water, as well as pink, white, and purple petals. That’s when I noticed the entire painting was of cool tones except for the carps. The warm orange on the two fish make them stand out against the busy canvas of pinks and purples. It was hard for me to make them out at first, but after taking a closer look, I was able to identify their tiny eyes and whiskers.

Ben Angotti; Mural

Knowing the artistic culture within the streets of New York, I knew it wouldn’t be difficult to find a piece of public art that blew me away. The public art displayed at the World Trade Center is powerful and massive, especially through the mural painted by Ben Angotti.

Looking at it closely, there are waves and ribbons of color, including various shades of blue, red, pink, green, orange, and more. Additionally, there is a youthful and vibrant sun behind the subject, with softer rays of color surrounding it; all of which are laid upon a surface of black throughout. Despite this, the mural is anything but dark and depressing: adjectives in which are associated with the shade of black. The mural is especially lively and energetic because of how exalted the subject is made out to be. Her head is held high with her hair, mixed with shades of black and purple, is flowing free and high behind her head. Shades of white highlight the high points of her face and body, including her chest, neck and the center of her face.

The city scape surrounding the mural really add to it in that the Oculus is an art piece within itself supporting its opposite: the mural. The progressive mural of black and ranges of color, is set in front of a stark white minimalistic structure. Both highlight very different aspects of New York City and its art. This ultimately goes to show how an environment has just as much as an impact on the artwork, whether it be Oculus or the mural, as the artwork does on the city.