There are many great museums in Manhattan, some made even greater by having a suggested rather than mandatory admission price. But why pay a dollar for entry to the quiet temperature-controlled Met, when instead you can pay an ever-increasing subway fare to hang out at the Times Square station and see some interesting art while being bombarded with all kinds of dissonant noises?
Perhaps that didn't sell the Times Square art experience, and perhaps you don't want to loiter in the Times Square subway. But next time your travels take you to that station, try to slow down and walk with your head up because there are several works of art worth seeing, including a piece by Roy Lichtenstein.
Lichtenstein (1923-1997) grew up in Manhattan and was prominent in the 'pop art' movement in the 1960's, a movement that also included Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns. This work is called Times Square Mural and its nearby plaque notes that "this mural is a gift from the artist to the people of New York."
All kidding aside about hanging out at the Times Square station to look at art, there is something special about being able to see a famous artist's work embedded into the daily life and infrastructure of the city. Just above the plaque is a subway sign that further enmeshes the art with the city's practical functioning.
The mural uses Lichtenstein's signature comic-cook style to show a futuristic subway car, or some kind of transport, along with other city buildings and images. There is also a figure to the far right that is the space adventurer Buck Rogers from old comics.
On both of my recent trips to this mural there was a musician performing in the open central space. And the art doesn't stop there, because just to the right of the Lichtenstein piece is a colorful glass mosaic that hangs over the passageway to the NQRW trains.
The busy scene is titled "New York in Transit." I appreciate the color it adds to the station, though to be honest I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't there for a blog post. I'm guessing most people don't notice the art but maybe some do, and I think it makes a difference even in a subconscious way.
There is actually a lot more art at this station, but I'll just take a quick look at some of it.
First there is a work by Bronx artist Toby Buonagurio that consists of 35 ceramic sculpture reliefs. Each one is in its own glass case along the station's walls, mainly along one long walking corridor that connects different train lines. The work is called Times Square Times: 35 Times. Here is a view down the corridor, with the lit up squares along the wall each containing one of the sculptures:
The artist was inspired by three defining traits of the Times Square area: Fashion, Street Life and Performing Arts. Here are a few more sculptures from the piece:
One last look at the Times Square station art is a 1999 work by Jack Beal called The Return of Spring/The Onset of Winter. It is near the 123 trains and consists of two glass mosaics, each depicting a New York scene. Here is The Onset of Winter:
The Times Square station is almost as much an art hub as a train hub, and I didn't even cover all of the art it has to offer. With all due respect to the other works, however, the Lichtenstein piece is the highlight because of what an iconic artist he was and continues to be.
As a bonus, there is another Roy Lichtenstein mural that is also in Midtown and also not in a museum. It is in the lobby of a building on Seventh Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets, which from Times Square is just one stop on the 1 train or a nine block walk if you're willing to get through those Midtown crowds.
It is a 1986 piece called Mural with Blue Brushstroke and is in a privately owned building so I will just show this view from the sidewalk. You can see a long blue streak running down the painting that represents a waterfall, and Lichtenstein also used several images from previous works. It is a very big piece at 67.5 feet tall and 32.5 feet wide. Even though the building is privately owned, anyone can go into the lobby and see the impressive mural, which makes it a pretty cool hidden work of art in Midtown.
There's no denying the greatness of MOMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but these Midtown artworks in the subway and a building lobby are also worth seeing if you don't mind a little extra noise and occasionally getting jostled by passersby while you stop to look around.
