In 2012, the Brooklyn Bridge began a long overdue facelift; its 5,989 ft. span was scraped to its metal core, and then painted. The tarps that covered the bridge transformed it into something Christo could have imagined; covered, cocooned, and shrouded, the span turned into a beautiful combination of steel, stone, canvas and human effort, glorified by an accommodating sun. This iconic bridge will never be seen like this again. Ever!
As I took daily walks over the bridge, I was taken by its beauty; the wind created motion in the tarps and the sun revealed its (so many) layers. I photographed through these layers, and what the camera saw was a cacophony of shadow and light, graffiti and paint, architecture and structure. I was there to catch the sun as it cast shadows, and at night, as the lights of the city illuminated the shroud. I would return to the same spot waiting for the sun to create what would become this project. Then it was my turn. I looked for a way to enhance these images, to add myself, so I created my own layer of paint using gouache and watercolors, and in certain places inked graffiti, to mark this moment in time. I scraped the metal frames down to their base, to represent the timeworn bridge. Through this project I came to understand, that while a shroud keeps its secrets, it reveals just as many.
images on this site are not mixed media.
Shown at Fabio Scalia, Brooklyn NY from December 2015 - March 2016
shrouded
painterly
nor’easter
sag harbor
the circus
knickers
storms
carpet
lamppost
line
contradiction
distant arch
The Circus Too
sand dune
your cells
Bricks and Mortar
hands
wires
arch n'sky
bimini
walkway