Don't Drink the Water
2008 - 23"x20.5" Acrylic, black gesso, colored pencil, charcoal, newspaper, on scrap wood.
Finished with two coats of Krylon Matte Finish #1311
(Not For Sale)

March 2008

I had an idea for making this a cityscape painting, so it started off as a view of Manhattan, then the East River and Brooklyn were added in. It never looked quite right. The upper left section was painted black, and then the upper right section became black too. I liked it, so the entire painting became black.

The painting still ended up being about NYC, but a slightly more abstract representation. Everything under the flying serpents is Brooklyn, and everything above is Manhattan. It's a futuristic image of Brooklyn as a toxic wasteland. I had recently watched some documentary videos on the Williamsburg/Greenpoint areas of Brooklyn, and all the pollution and toxic waste problems caused by manufacturing plants, waste management facilities, and the Exxon/Mobil oil spill. You can see the videos at VBS.TV by searching for "Toxic Brooklyn".

The two animals in the lower left corner are visitors doing some sightseeing. The Williamsburg/Greenpoint animal freak show features a mutant two-headed giraffe and flying serpents. It's a more popular tourist attraction than the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty. In the background are the oil rigs still drilling for oil, and the manufacturing plants still polluting. The two tall buildings represent Williamsburg near the Bedford L stop. They were once luxury condos, but are now dilapidated, abandoned buildings inhabited only by artists and mutant animals.

The moon is white, but just about everything else is black and silver. The silver blue pond to the left of the two-headed giraffe inspired the title.

Photos from painting in development.