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Grand Central: Arches, Towers, Pyramids
2000 / 2020
Grand Central – 42nd Street (S, 4, 5, 6, 7)
New York City Transit
The passageways and waiting areas of Grand Central's subway stations are like a bustling city, an underground community — but without a skyline. This mosaic artwork brings architectural views down below.
As part of the recent upgrades to the 42 St Shuttle, Jackie Ferrara’s “Grand Central: Arches, Towers, Pyramids” (2000) was expanded to span the new six-car length of track 4 and wrap new stairs from the mezzanine. The project was originally conceived as a skyline for the underground passageways and waiting areas of Grand Central Terminal. Rendered as an expansive mosaic band more than 1,500 feet long, the artwork brings architectural views down below into the busting station. Original artwork and expansion were fabricated by COLORCO Ltd.
Ferrara has long been interested in the simple and repetitive forms of building, and she uses forms that are simple and schematic, and almost primitive-looking structures. Taken together, they lend a unity and meditative character to the space; as people move through the platforms and passageways, the images seem to shift, and no two vistas are the same. Ferrara thinks of these as pieces of a mathematical puzzle. The spare simplicity and economy of design attracts viewers. Nothing is casual or unintentional in the artist's design, which she describes: "This sequence of stripe/image is calculated. It can be seen as images on a strip of film, or a line of faces framed in the windows of a passing train."
As part of the recent upgrades to the 42 St Shuttle, Jackie Ferrara’s “Grand Central: Arches, Towers, Pyramids” (2000) was expanded to span the new six-car length of track 4 and wrap new stairs from the mezzanine. The project was originally conceived as a skyline for the underground passageways and waiting areas of Grand Central Terminal. Rendered as an expansive mosaic band more than 1,500 feet long, the artwork brings architectural views down below into the busting station. Original artwork and expansion were fabricated by COLORCO Ltd.
Ferrara has long been interested in the simple and repetitive forms of building, and she uses forms that are simple and schematic, and almost primitive-looking structures. Taken together, they lend a unity and meditative character to the space; as people move through the platforms and passageways, the images seem to shift, and no two vistas are the same. Ferrara thinks of these as pieces of a mathematical puzzle. The spare simplicity and economy of design attracts viewers. Nothing is casual or unintentional in the artist's design, which she describes: "This sequence of stripe/image is calculated. It can be seen as images on a strip of film, or a line of faces framed in the windows of a passing train."
