Paintings invoke a visual experience. They have a physical presence which we can also respond to in their scale and how they are being presented. The environment in which the work is present and the area and space around a painting affect how one sees it, and how one experiences it. Art created for public space allows a direct experience from Artist to Viewer. Artwork which is directly present on the street can contextualize the presentation of the work, in a way where it is presented outside agenda driven art world actors.
Lambertville New Jersey has an Arts weekend in the beginning of October. I was asked by the Manager of The People’s Store, a co-op building in the downtown section of the city, to create something on the street outside the building. This interested me because of as I mentioned there is an immensely powerful and direct engagement in street art. I began the project by building a three-dimension structure with one-inch PVC pipe. The structure was created to display a seven-foot painting I had created in my Philadelphia studio. The used of materials I bought at a home goods store. I wanted the materials to reflect a raw quality like construction one might see on a road environment. I also installed solar lighting to light the piece at night. The large-scale painting was painted during the covid shutdown with an inspiration relating to fear and anxiety. Seeing the painting on a dark street expressed this perfectly.
My work is often emotional and has a physicality. The scale of the work and distance or way the work is presented relates to our human scale and the relation of us to the piece. There is a physical and tactile quality of the work as well. When the work is placed on the street or outside a Gallery space many barriers are removed and the viewer can meet the work on their terms with their own boundaries of distance, touch, and engagement. My intention is to share the emotion and the aesthetic of the work directly and in this way.
