Queens of the NIght

2021 1st Ave (L) New York City Transit

Katherine Bradford’s artwork reflects on the community that uses the 1 Av station. Her vibrant compositions, fabricated in glass mosaic by Mayer of Munich, are located in the north and south mezzanines near First Avenue, and in three of the newly opened staircases at the Avenue A end of the station.

In the First Avenue north mezzanine, figures in lime green, aquamarine blue, and rosy pinks gather in a group (as riders do on subway platforms) and are depicted under the glow of a massive moon. Two characters from this assembly are also seen in the Avenue A northeast staircase. Caped heroes, a recurring image in Bradford’s body of work, guide riders in and out of the northwest and southeast stairs at Avenue A. In the First Avenue south mezzanine, riders are greeted by a dusky blue individual donning a gown in a field of flowers.

The figures seen in the mosaic panels represent train riders. The line transports creative people pursuing their dreams and real-life heroes who provide essential services. In New York, these riders are often dressed in black, which Bradford believes is "merely a cloak over an inner life that is wildly colorful and unconventional."

“I want to give back to these subway travelers their own sense of whimsy," Bradford says. "I want to give them the possibility of stories that evoke enchantment over reality and a kind of technicolor backdrop to their subway experience.”

The beings that populate the scenes are ethereal and intriguing, inspiring the viewer to reconsider the outward expression of one’s own interior vivacity. These mystical figures express the energy of camaraderie when people are gathered, and the power of collective experience.