Contemporary Art Underground: MTA Arts & Design New York

by Sandra Bloodworth, Hilarie Sheets (Foreword), Cheryl Hageman

A celebration of more than 100 major public art commissions throughout the New York transit system Contemporary Art Underground presents more than 100 permanent projects completed between 2015 and 2023 by MTA Arts & Design. This ground-breaking program of site-specific projects by a broad spectrum of well-known and emerging contemporary artists has helped to create a sense of character and place at subway and commuter rail stations throughout the MTA system. Among the featured artists are Yayoi Kusama, Kiki Smith, Nick Cave, Ann Hamilton, Xenobia Bailey, Jim Hodges, Alex Katz, Sarah Sze, and Vik Muniz. Of special interest is the discussion of fabricating and transposing the artist’s rendering or model into mosaic, glass, or metal, the materials that can survive in the transit environment. This is the definitive survey of the latest works of the internationally acclaimed MTA Arts & Design collection. On view 24 hours a day, the collection is seen by more than four million subway riders and commuters daily and has been hailed as ‘New York’s Underground Art Museum.’ The collection enlivens stations in all boroughs, with a myriad works by major contemporary artists executed in mosaic, glass, metal, and ceramic.

Genres: Art

264 pages, Hardcover

Published April 24, 2024

Reviews

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, colorful, serious, comprehensive, insightful, brilliant, thoughtfully curated - - I’m trying to make a mosaic of words that reflects the essence of this wonderful book that stands as a testament to the achievement of one the world’s truly great public art programs.

[Aurelia Littlepage · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can never give this book a 10 because I don’t like the MTA. Bc if we’re being so fr this book is MTA propaganda and no amount installations from artists I love will distract me from the fact that the price is being raised to $3 in 2026 and that my every move is being tracked through OMNY…

With that said, there were some things I appreciated about this book. It was interesting to learn about how someone’s identity as a New Yorker shaped their artistic practice, and how they incorporated cultural/ geographical aspects of their community into their commissions. It made me think about how different symbols and colors can shape a persons mood and day to day experience.

I also enjoyed learning about how they rework art from one medium to another. For example Katherine Bradford transformed her superhero motifs found in many of her paintings to a mosaic format in Into Queens of the Night (2021) found on then 1st ave L stop.

I liked that this book focused on contemporary art (2015-2023), however almost half the book was spent on LIRR and Metro North stops. No shade but I just do not care, and I thought that this book would be focused on the city, hence the word UNDERGROUND in the title.

Ultimately, this book was not what I wanted it to be, and that’s okay! It’s inspired me to look for other resources about stops that frequent (specifically on the 456 line) . I am also now in search of historical catalogue of MTA art, that tracks how it has changed over time.