The Beaches of New York City

2011 Beach 60 Station (A) New York City Transit

Artist Simon Levenson's work features figures at the beach in various poses, which has the benefit of strong light that comes from the nearby beach being depicted. Levenson creates his figures serially, so they may be read in sequence. The southbound side of the station faces the ocean and has the brightest light; it contains two panels with larger than life-size figures filling the space amid the cool blue of the ocean. On the northbound side, the glass block contains a sequence of smaller vignettes that extend from sand to sea in one long band. The view of the sequence depends upon the transit rider's path going up to, or down from, the elevated platform.

The artwork was created in glass block, which is located in the mezzanine area which is above the street and below the platform. The fabrication technique echoed Levenson’s brushwork, with hand painting of the individual half-blocks, which were then laminated to clear blocks. The resulting work is durable and allows light to come through. In the evening the illuminated interiors will light the work so it can be seen by those approaching the station.

The figures — many of which children with their mothers — are seen in free and unguarded moments of delight that often comes as the sand meets the surf. Levenson has long painted such beach scenes and speaks of his childhood memories at the beach, "where life’s greatest and smallest dramas play out on a daily basis."