F Train to 2nd Ave
2007 - 11"x12" Acrylic, colored pencil, charcoal, inkjet print, drywall screw, on wood.
Finished with two coats of Krylon Matte Finish #1311
(Not For Sale)

I moved to New York in July 2007 and began exhibiting in the East Village and LES of Manhattan. I live in Brooklyn, so the F-Train to 2nd Avenue was my route to the East side of Manhattan. There are train tracks (looks like a ladder) going vertically across the painting with the stops between my apartment and the start of my art exhibitions at Niagara and Bullet Space in the East Village & Lower East Side.

In the painting you will see Niagara (just below the green box with a "T" for Thompkins Square), and Bullet Space (just below the screw) which were two of my first exhibitions.

 

 

 

 

Bullet Space (292 E.3rd street between Ave C & D) was my first big show in NYC. A group of artists including myself helped to renovate the gallery and bring it back to life. My contribution was hanging the drywall and painting. The screw in the painting is an actual drywall screw from the renovation. I would pass the Kenkelaba House sculpture garden on E. 3rd Street on my way there. On the far right of the painting is a sketch of my favorite sculpture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I traveled back and forth between my apartment and 2nd Ave many times. I would pass the time waiting for the train to arrive by watching the rats run around the tracks. The rats are also represented in my painting.

As I returned home from my first exhibition at Niagara, I was standing in the F train subway station at Jay Street. There was a sign on the wall that I liked, so I took a picture of it.

 

 

 

 

 

I have been experimenting with photo transfer like Rauschenberg has done, but I haven't been happy with the results. I decided to print out the photo from my inkjet printer and glue it to the wood. That became the foundation for my painting.