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Blue Rails (White Plains); Forte (Quarropas)
2020
White Plains (Harlem)
Metro-North Railroad
The artwork by Barbara Takenaga for the White Plains station consists of mosaic and laminated glass. Featuring the artist’s signature stylized abstract forms, the artwork emits deep vibrant blue in movement that references rail travel, the history of the city, and its exuberant energy.
“Blue Rails (White Plains)” in laminated glass is located on the side platform overlooking the station’s parking lot and Hamilton Avenue. The long horizontal image is composed of a series of mirrored abstract patterns in a forward and backward movement in space. Each composition is anchored by the radiating light from a misty horizon suggesting the white mist and the disappearing tracks as they move away from the station. Animated by shifting light throughout the day, "Blue Rails (White Plains)" is a visual play to the "rhythm of the rails."
Titled after the old name of White Plains, the mosaic artwork "Forte (Quarropas)" features a sweeping composition of dynamic sky with flowing blue water, evoking a celestial aspect and the role water has played throughout the history of White Plains. The work serves as an energized entry into a place of travel and movement. Amid the deep sea of blue, splashes of iridescent green to pink and aqua sparkle and come to live following the footsteps of the commuters passing through the lobby wall.
As stated by Takenaga, “White Plains has a rich and diverse past, from its modern history tracing way back to the presence of Native Americans. The translation of the wonderful Wecquaesgeek name 'Quarropas,' meaning 'white marshes' or 'plains of white,' still continues today in a very resonant way. I am interested in the poetry and imagined references to landscape — filtered through my working process which is visually abstract and stylized, and at the same time pays homage to the city of water and white mists.”
11 Photos
Explore “Forte (Quarropas); Blue Rails (White Plains)” (2020)
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“Blue Rails (White Plains)” in laminated glass is located on the side platform overlooking the station’s parking lot and Hamilton Avenue. The long horizontal image is composed of a series of mirrored abstract patterns in a forward and backward movement in space. Each composition is anchored by the radiating light from a misty horizon suggesting the white mist and the disappearing tracks as they move away from the station. Animated by shifting light throughout the day, "Blue Rails (White Plains)" is a visual play to the "rhythm of the rails."
Titled after the old name of White Plains, the mosaic artwork "Forte (Quarropas)" features a sweeping composition of dynamic sky with flowing blue water, evoking a celestial aspect and the role water has played throughout the history of White Plains. The work serves as an energized entry into a place of travel and movement. Amid the deep sea of blue, splashes of iridescent green to pink and aqua sparkle and come to live following the footsteps of the commuters passing through the lobby wall.
As stated by Takenaga, “White Plains has a rich and diverse past, from its modern history tracing way back to the presence of Native Americans. The translation of the wonderful Wecquaesgeek name 'Quarropas,' meaning 'white marshes' or 'plains of white,' still continues today in a very resonant way. I am interested in the poetry and imagined references to landscape — filtered through my working process which is visually abstract and stylized, and at the same time pays homage to the city of water and white mists.”
11 Photos
Explore “Forte (Quarropas); Blue Rails (White Plains)” (2020)
View Gallery
