Beacons

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Title: Rico Gatson, Beacons, Commissioned by MTA Arts & Design
Photo Credit: Jack Mitchell
Lead Artist(s):
Rico Gatson

ricogatson.com

[email protected]

Description:

Rico Gatson created a series of eight mosaic murals titled Beacons, for the NYC Transit 167th Street subway station in the Bronx. The murals feature photographic portraits of renowned figures of history and culture, sourced from photographs and translated into glass mosaic.

Gatson chose eight individuals: Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Celia Cruz, Reggie Jackson, Audre Lorde, Tito Puente, Gil Scott-Heron and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, using photographs by credited photographers. He juxtaposed the black and white portraits with hard-edge geometric lines using a palette of red, orange, yellow, black, grey, and green that act as a metaphor for beaming light, radiating beauty, inspiration and pride. The mosaics are spread along the subway platform to create prime views and inspiring focal points for the public.

Beacons celebrates the energy and spirit of these individuals who each have a connection to the Bronx and its history and/or have received positive acclaim for their cultural, political and artistic contributions. For example, Justice Sotomayor was raised in a Puerto Rican community in the Bronx. While some of Gatson’s subjects are not Bronx natives, they impacted the borough’s history and culture, like James Baldwin, who attended High School in the Bronx.

Gatson said, “Light as metaphor, minimalism, formalism, history and the struggle of underrepresented people are key aspects of my work. Light is illuminating, spiritual, radiant, beautiful, colorful and inspirational. History reinforces who we are, gives us a view to the past and can guide our way forward.”

The 1933-era 167th Street station was part of a station improvement program to bring world-class design to the subway system by re-imagining the experience of the public using digital wayfinding, improved lighting and industrial design elements. It is the station closest to the Bronx Museum of Art.

PROJECT LOCATION

Transit System
Underground subway station platform walls of New York City Transit 167th Street (B/D train) station
E. 167th Street and Grand Concourse
167 Street
Bronx, NY 10452
United States

click the map to enlarge
PROJECT TEAM

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts & Design (MTA Arts & Design)
mta.info/art
[email protected]
Lydia Bradshaw

mta.info/art

mta.info/art
MTA Arts & Design
Stephen Miotto

[email protected]
Miotto Mosaic Art Studios
PROJECT DETAILS

Permanent
$335,000
Percent-for-Art
Mosaic
Mosaic
Glass mosaic Permission was received from photographers, listed in the credits. ARTWORK CREDIT: Beacons (2018) © Rico Gatson, NYCT 167 St Station. Commissioned by MTA Arts & Design. Maya Angelou portrait derived from a photograph by Brian Lanker James Baldwin portrait derived from a photograph by Steve Schapiro Celia Cruz portrait derived from a photograph owned by Celia Cruz Entertainment LLC Reggie Jackson portrait derived from a photograph by Doug McWilliams/National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Audre Lorde portrait derived from a photograph by Jack Mitchell Tito Puente portrait derived from a photograph by Martin Cohen Gil Scott-Heron portrait derived from a photograph by Paul Natkin Sonia Sotomayor portrait derived from a photograph by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
2018
2019