Street artist Nicolina strikes again with a series of Mayan-esque “portals” created with Brazilian artist Pérola Bonfanti. This is Portal 1, on the corner of a former bank on Seventh St. and Avenue C, which cleverly assimilates the building’s Masonic architecture for awesome effect. The trypitch — replete with jeweled scarab, Horus (the Egyptian falcon god) and scary Mayan face — has a QR code that you scan to receive instructions for how to “pass through” the portal by cracking its “code.” Another portal (Portal 0) is up on the corner of Third St. and Second Ave. According to the Web site www.13portals.com: “Once all 13 portals have been completed, the shroud of mystery behind the works will be lifted, and the 13 portals’ esoteric secrets will be revealed.”
— Sarah Ferguson
