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A bridge between art and the community
Photo credit: Urbanite
"ArtBridge 2009: First Exposure," displayed on London Terrace Gardens in Chelsea (RJ Mickelson)
Scaffolding in New York is as ubiquitous as it is ugly. Artist Rodney Durso decided to do something about the latter issue.
His organization, ArtBridge, is displaying the works of 26 local artists for the next six months around West Chelsea’s historic London Terrace Gardens apartment complex.
“I wanted to find a way for artists to get their work out there in a highly visible area,” said Durso, 44.
He lives in London Terrace and hatched the idea about a year ago, when the current round of construction started.He put out a call for entries for his show, “ArtBridge 2009: First Exposure,” via the Web and got replies from about 100 interested candidates. The list was narrowed down to 26 by a seven-person panel of gallery owners, architects, artists and Durso.
The judges were looking for modern, abstract pieces, which they thought would complement the brick of London Terrace.
Artist Jennifer Bell, 28, kept that sentiment in mind when she submitted “Good Life” — a confetti-like, heavily patterned painting.
“Chelsea is stark and hard,” said Bell, a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “This painting has so much energy. Hopefully it’ll add a sense of life to the neighborhood.”
Painter Jacob Gossett describes his piece “Strobe” as architectural, with geometric forms and bands of color.
“I thought it would fit in with the aesthetic of the streets and the building,” said Gossett, 25.
The total cost of producing ArtBridge was about $50,000, Durso said. Funding came from London Terrace, Spring Scaffolding and the artists, who paid $195 each to have their work displayed.
After the current art is taken down, Durso said he’d like to open up the contest again to new entries.
“I want to somehow beautify the neighborhood,” Durso said.
"Strobe," by Jacob Gossett
"Good Life," by Jennifer Bell
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