On May 8 the much anticipated Metro D (Purple) line extension opened to the public with three new stations tunneled under Wilshire Blvd: La Cienega, Fairfax, La Brea.
Nine artists were chosen among 1,400 applicants to decorate the walls with meaningful public art.
I went to explore and photograph these artworks, after parking at the Beverly Hills Bridge Club, which has been located at 325 S. La Cienega Blvd. since 1992 and where I enjoy playing this challenging game.
Todd Gray created “Mining the Archive: S. Charles Lee, Architect,” by elaborating on photographs and blueprints of the 1930 Art Deco Fox Wilshire Theatre, that the renown architect designed, with images in blue, black and white.
Mariana Castillo Deball’s installation, “Four Pleated Landscapes: Fossil Ground, Woven Cienega, Medicinal Flora, and Urban Desert Flora,” reminded me of ancient maps of continents, this one being North America.
Soo Kim assembled collages of her photographs of the urban topography around the Wilshire Corridor for “Night/Quarz.”
A lady I met while waiting for my train told me that she was headed to a small Farmers Market at La Brea, so I also went there.
Mark Dean Veca’s “Miracle of La Brea” draws from the Art Deco details of the Wilshire Tower building.
Eamon Ore-Giron designed geometrical shapes in yellow, blue, green colors for his ‘Infinite Landscape: Los Angeles Para Siempre.”
Fran Siegel’s artwork “Re-Orientation” consists of layered sequences from the surrounding landscape.
I am leaving the artwork at the Fairfax Station for a second article because I want to get into more detail about “Hands and Things” by Karl Haendel.
A big thanks to Metro’s helpful personnel!
You may click on underlined words for more info. Enjoy!