• This website includes dozens of videos, hundreds of essays, and thousands of drawings created over the past twenty years. Search to learn more about the history of buildings, places, prisons, Newark, New York City, and my PhD research on spatial inequality.

  • Or scroll down for the latest publications.

Tag Archives: pastel

No comments

Pictures of Newark

  12 January 2016 ,

.

As a lifelong citizen of Newark, I spent much of the past few years painting and photographing my changing city. Pictures features a selection of my work, complemented by classical music. Five of Modest Mussorgsky’s pieces from his composition Pictures at an Exhibition are selected, each of which represents the feel of a certain part of Newark. The following five locations are featured:
1. THE PASSAIC RIVER – music: Mussorgsky’s Promenade
2. OLD ESSEX COUNTY JAIL – music: With the Dead in the Language of Death
3. MOUNT PLEASANT CEMETERY – music: Promenade
4. DOWNTOWN NEWARK – music: Mozart’s Death March (k 453a)
5. PORT NEWARK – music: Promenade
Growing up in Newark, I am inspired and saddened by the inner city. I am inspired by Newark’s hope of renewal after decades of white flight, under-investment, and urban neglect. I am saddened by the loss of my city’s historic architecture and urban fabric to the wrecking ball of what is called progress.
Curious about the history of the old Essex County Jail? Explore this interactive exhibit.

 

.

 Featured work from this film

The Chimney Falls - 2008
The Chimney Falls – 2008
Gulf Station
Gulf Station
Pulaski Skyway
Pulaski Skyway
Symmetrical bridges cross the Passic River
Symmetrical bridges cross the Passic River
Essex County Jail
Essex County Jail
Downtown Newark
Downtown Newark
This way to freedom
This way to freedom
Industrial zone in the New Jersey Meadowlands
Industrial zone in the New Jersey Meadowlands
Port Newark
Port Newark
4-18-14 north wing at essex county jail
Big tires, bigger nation
Big tires, bigger nation
Rusting barge
Rusting barge
City in autumn
City in autumn
Craneway Street
Craneway Street
Arrested Motion
Waiting for demolition at the "Little Annie Bridge"
Waiting for demolition at the “Little Annie Bridge”
Essex County Jail
Essex County Jail
A sense of scale
A sense of scale
Corbin Stret
Corbin Stret
Roman Ruins
Roman Ruins
Waiting for demolition at the "Little Annie Drawbridge"
Waiting for demolition at the “Little Annie Drawbridge”
Newark Broad Street Station
Newark Broad Street Station
After hours in Port Newark
After hours in Port Newark
Old drawbridge at Port Newark
Old drawbridge at Port Newark
Sunset on the Passaic River
Sunset on the Passaic River

No comments

Proposal for a pop-up park near the Flatiron Building

  19 October 2014 , ,
In front of Manhattan’s Flatiron Building is an unused, triangular spit of land bordered by three major streets: Fifth Avenue, Broadway, and 23rd Street. Every day, thousands of pedestrians pass and cars through this central intersection. This underutilized space with traffic on all sides could become a vibrant, public square. This park should reflect and respond to the dynamic and energetic neighborhood.
Pop-up Park creates a mixed-use public space that responds to users. Narrow metal panels measuring three by five meters roll out of a wedge-shaped storage container. Each panel serves a different function: bleachers, benches, bookshelf, public mural, basketball hoop, etc. When in use, the panels are alternated to adapt to multiple uses. When not in use, the panels slide back into their container, leaving an open communal space. The dimensions of each panel correspond to the perfect shape of the golden rectangle. This permits a functional yet aesthetic geometric composition to be incorporated into each panel. The park’s periphery is planted with trees to shade the communal area and to act as a visual buffer from the hectic city.

.

urban park 1

urban park 2

popup 1
popup 2
popup 3
No comments

South Bronx

  16 October 2014 ,

View more artwork like this about my experiences walking in New York City.

Strolling in the Bronx, I am arrested by the inner-city grid that stretches mile after mile. Block after block, street after street, a never ending treadmill of bodegas, tenements, hair salons, C-TOWN supermarkets, strip malls, and laundries. In the treadmill of the city grid, I become an explorer lost wandering. I retrace my footsteps.
And then, there is the ceaseless cacophony of Spanish speakers, buses, and car. The chaotic maze of streets leads me to fantasize walking through one of M.C. Escher’s drawings of a geometric maze. The blaring signage for SHOES, SHIRTS, PIZZA, and ICE CREAM hints at shabby decadence. The never-too-distant fast-food joint hints at obesity in a relative food desert. The din of distant cars on the Cross Bronx or Major Deegan hint at the childhood asthma that I, too, had. I immerse myself in the urban grid.
After many hours, I spy an elevated subway stop in the distance. I take the next southbound train back to Manhattan. I must return to the Bronx soon. The outer boroughs beckon.

.

Marble Hill Home (2662 Kingsbridge Terr)
Marble Hill Home (2662 Kingsbridge Terr)
This home is still occupied (2662 Kingsbridge Terr).
This home is still occupied (2662 Kingsbridge Terr).
Subway Trestle (228th & Broadway)
Subway Trestle (228th & Broadway)
Parking Attendants (232nd & Broadway)
Parking Attendants (232nd & Broadway)
Pedestrians wait for bus (228 & Broadway).
Pedestrians wait for bus (228 & Broadway).
Latino family strolls to Target (Marble Hill Projects).
Latino family strolls to Target (Marble Hill Projects).
Riverdale Home (246th & Cayuga)
Riverdale Home (246th & Cayuga)
Latino couple in South Bronx
Latino couple in South Bronx
Children's Dentist (Kingsbridge & Heath)
Children’s Dentist (Kingsbridge & Heath)
Discounted Gold
Discounted Gold
Communion Dresses
Communion Dresses
Lady wearing shirt reading "Heart Breakers" passes Amiga Fasion.
Lady wearing shirt reading “Heart Breakers” passes Amiga Fasion.
Copious Signage (233rd &Broadway)
Copious Signage (233rd &Broadway)
Tenement Row on Kingsbridge Road
Tenement Row on Kingsbridge Road
King's Pizza (Sedgwick & Kingsbridge)
King’s Pizza (Sedgwick & Kingsbridge)
Garbage Collector
Garbage Collector
Kingsbridge Corner Bodega
Kingsbridge Corner Bodega
Metro Sunday Sidewalk School teaches Biblical stories.
Metro Sunday Sidewalk School teaches Biblical stories.
Broadway & 242: Last Stop
Broadway & 242: Last Stop
Lady crosses Kingsbridge Road.
Lady crosses Kingsbridge Road.
Haircut on Kingsbridge
Haircut on Kingsbridge
No comments

New Jersey Meadowlands

  20 August 2014 , ,
The New Jersey Meadowlands, nestled between New York City and Newark, is a strange sort of in-between zone. It belongs neither to nature nor to man. The grasslands and birds of nature are abundant. So, too, are the derelict factories and warehouses. The unwanted detritus of civilization is cast off into the Meadowlands, ranging from garbage piles to noxious-smelling industries.
Millions of commuters to and from the suburbs to New York City pass through this region of indeterminate identity. Many look out the windows of passing trains, planes, and cars. Yet few care to observe the lapping tides and bizarre beauty of this unwanted strip of land. These views show various scenes from my daily train ride through the Meadowlands between Newark Broad Street and Hoboken Terminal.

.

In Memory of Jimmy Hoffa
In Memory of Jimmy Hoffa
Shell Oil monopoly
Shell Oil monopoly
Sunset on the Passaic River
Sunset on the Passaic River
Old drawbridge at Port Newark
Old drawbridge at Port Newark
Industrial zone in the New Jersey Meadowlands
Industrial zone in the New Jersey Meadowlands
NJ Meadowlands
NJ Meadowlands
Power Generators
Power Generators
NJ Meadowlands
NJ Meadowlands
Jersey City Factories
Jersey City Factories
Industial beachhead at Port Newark
Industial beachhead at Port Newark
Power Generators
Power Generators
meadowlands 7
Factory Yard
Factory Yard
Overhead Power Lines
Overhead Power Lines
Premonition of a city on the Passaic River
Premonition of a city on the Passaic River
City in autumn
City in autumn
Hackensack River
Hackensack River
New Jersey Meadowlands
New Jersey Meadowlands
Dredging toxic industrial runoff buried in the river
Dredging toxic industrial runoff buried in the river
Hackensack River
Hackensack River
After hours in Port Newark
After hours in Port Newark
Port Newark tire yard
Port Newark tire yard
meadowlands 10
Railroad Station
Railroad Station
No comments

When dinosaurs take over New York City at night

  16 June 2014 ,
In the New York City of my imagination, dinosaurs emerge from the Museum of Natural History to prowl “the city that never sleeps.” They roam the streets engaging in dinosaur-like activities: scaring people, stealing from butcher shops, and terrorizing the skyline. For one night, the city belongs to them.

.

Haunting the Museum of Natural History
Haunting the Museum of Natural History
T-Rex head
T-Rex head
Dinosaurs as the Seagram Building
Dinosaurs as the Seagram Building
New York Public Library
New York Public Library
Stealing meat from Little Italy
Stealing meat from Little Italy
The city in the dinosaur's eye
The city in the dinosaur’s eye
Empire State and Chrysler Building
Empire State and Chrysler Building
No comments

Political Cartoons

  11 May 2014
The following images are political style cartoons about nationalism, fascism, and communism. They are drawn in the pedantic and high-contrast style of propaganda images from the Soviet Union. The rigid use of geometry and symmetry is intentional to communicate the oppression these regimes stand for.

.

Shell Oil monopoly
Shell Oil monopoly
So called Land of the Free (homage to Germania)
So called Land of the Free (homage to Germania)
God Bless America
God Bless America
God Bless Nationalism
God Bless Nationalism
Communism (homage to "Sleeping Peasants" by Jean-François Millet)
Communism (homage to “Sleeping Peasants” by Jean-François Millet)
Sarcastic homage to McCarthyism
Sarcastic homage to McCarthyism
Fascist corporate cabal
Fascist corporate cabal
The last proletariat on the Ford assembly line
The last proletariat on the Ford assembly line
Chairman Mao drinks Coca-Cola
Chairman Mao drinks Coca-Cola
Long live capitalism
Long live capitalism
Conspiracy theories and the JFK assassination on TV
Conspiracy theories and the JFK assassination on TV
Bullying hurts
Bullying hurts

McDonald’s Fast Food Slaughter Machine

This image is inspired by H.G. Wells’ 1895 book The Time Machine. H.G. Wells describes two worlds. The world above is a peaceful garden and amusement park full of naïve residents. Monsters live in the dark world below of tunnels, machines, and the equipment that sustains the aboveground garden. In my rendition of H.G. Wells’ story monsters emerge at night with their nasty machines to harvest people for “USDA approved grade A” burger patties.

.

A Goliath made of corporate logos fights a tiny David dressed as Uncle Sam.