The Museum of the City of New York presented an exhibition on Graffiti Art from the Martin Wong Collection. The artist embraced what is known as “the first of many art forms to emerge from the youth culture of New York City in the 1970s and 1980s”.
Out of the various depictions presented at the museum, one particularly struck me. The content of this work seems to focus on New York City itself; it is a depiction of Times Square, one of the landmarks this city is most recognized for world wide. The typical yellow taxi of New York City dominates the work and instantly catches the viewer’s eye. As a coining factor of the city itself, the yellow cab serves as a focal point in the artwork. The colors are vibrant and intense which portrays an explosion of color and energy analogous to the nature of metropolitan living. Among a large array of colors, blue is used for the sky and yellow for the taxi to resemble Times Square’s blast of lights, life and everlasting energy.
Furthermore, the layout of this work is very interesting. Despite the lack of straight lines and detail, it captures reality well. It depicts a real location and, through the placement of the cab at the front of the work, adds credibillity to the artist’s message. At the same time, there is a very interesting overlap of images because the background of the work depicts a large blue eye, as if it were looking over the city. The eye strongly captured my attention due to the fact that it seems to that of a foreigner. This disoriented individual looks over a new and sometimes overwhelming scenario. This, I feel, is the artist’s message. I identified with it instantly because I perceived it as someone trying to observe and find its way in this city full of opportunities. This arrangement of images might give the impression that this work is abstract but, truly, I found it very relatable and quite representational. The feeling I perceive from this work is that this city may come across as overwhelming, crowded and chaotic at first, but once one finds its place in it, it becomes the best place one can be in to start over and chase dreams.