"SYMPHONIC CONVERGENCE 1 & 2" - Beach 36th Street Subway Station, Rockaway Line, Queens, New York, USA
in collaboration with George Bates
Client: MTA Arts and Design
Architect: MTA New York City Transit
Photo credits: Peter Bartsch
Technique: Multiple layers of hand painting and airbrushing on glass blocks.
DESCRIPTION: At Beach 36th Street, George Bates designed a lyrical composition with a bold yet playful spirit that expresses the artist’s feelings about the Rockaways. The piece features glass blocks that bring in light and brighten the station’s stair landings. The design on the southbound side features a spiral formed of people’s heads, rendered in deep blue and heavy line. These are profiles that overlap one another, building up and snowballing into a large element, a community. The northbound side of the station distills the essence of the beachside community with a spirited joyous rendition that achieves its music-like title, with its waves and crescendos of color, pattern, and form.