Beacons
PROJECT OVERVIEW
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
PROJECT TEAM
mta.info/art
[email protected]
mta.info/art
mta.info/art