NEW YORK — Dramatic new artwork will adorn the new Second Avenue Subway stations when it opens in the New Year becoming the largest permanent public art installation in New York State history.
The art will include a depiction of two married gay men holding hands by artist Vik Muniz.
At 72nd Street, Vik Muniz’s installation, “Perfect Strangers” features more than three dozen characters created in mosaic and installed throughout the mezzanine and entrance areas, populating the station with colorful images of all types of New Yorkers, including New York married couple Thor Stockman and Patrick Kellogg. The main station entrance features an etched glass canopy at street level depicting a flock of birds, bringing art and nature to the busy location. Within the expanse of the mezzanine concourse, the life size figures provide bursts of color and visual interest and an opportunity for new discovery with every trip through the station.
Other artists featured are Sarah Sze, Chuck Close and Jean Shin.
“The Second Avenue subway provides New Yorkers with a museum underground and honors our legacy of building engineering marvels that elevate the human experience,” Governor Cuomo said. “Public works projects are not just about function – they’re an expression of who we are and what we believe. Any child who has never walked into a museum or an art gallery can walk the streets of New York and be exposed to art and education simply by being a New Yorker. That is where we came from and that is what makes New York special.”
Watch the video above showing the remarkable creation of these new artworks.
