The Whitney is bringing free art to NYC’s subway stations this summer
Summer in the subway system is hot, but it’s about to get a lot cooler—the Whitney Museum of American Art is bringing large-scale artworks to certain stations around NYC.
Celebrating its Biennial, the Whitney teamed up with the MTA to put up vinyl installations of artworks by former and current Biennial artists—including Roy Lichtenstein, Jane Dickson, Dawoud Bey, Alex Katz, and Eamon Ore-Giron—on the facades of former retail spaces on three subway station platforms: West Fourth Street, Jay Street, and Fordham Road.
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Alongside this subway takeover, the Whitney has also created a digital map where you can see the Biennial’s history, which spans from 1932, and shows “then and now” photos from the ’30s and current day, including a comparison of Biennial artist Jane Dickson’s 1983 work “Dobbs Hats” to today in Times Square.
Others include:
- George C. Ault, “Hudson Street” (northwest view of Hudson and Gansevoort Streets). This work is in the Whitney’s collection and is currently on view on the seventh floor.
- Francis Criss, “Astor Place” (south-facing view of E 9th St and Lafayette Street). This work is in the Whitney’s collection.
- David Morrison, “Union Square” (northeast view of 14th St and Broadway).
- John Cunning, “Sunset, New York Bay”(southwest view from 110 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn)
- Kenneth Frazier, “The Leviathan Goes to Sea”(southwest view from Broadway and Exchange Place)
- Edward Laning, “Fourteenth Street” (east-facing view of 14th St at Sixth Avenue). This work is in the Whitney’s collection.
- Biennial artist Jane Dickson, “Dobbs Hats” (8th Ave between 42nd and 43rd, SW view) this work is in the Whitney’s collection.
To celebrate, the MTA and the Whitney are hosting art projects in subway stations and other cultural institutions nearby public transportation all summer long, starting at Union Square station on June 1. From 10:30am to 2pm or until supplies last, Whitney educators will walk people through a project inspired by artist Ruth Asawa (who was in three Whitney Biennials) to decorate Whitney tote bags with fruits and vegetables.
Other dates include
- June 29 at the New York Botanical Gardens (an institution accessible by subway and
Metro-North that inspired Whitney Biennial artist Joseph Stella) - July 27 at the New York Transit Museum
- and later this summer (TBA) at the Hudson Yards subway station