Photos Displayed On Facility Facade
In the shadow of the Queensboro Bridge, a Long Island City Department of Transportation (DOT) facility became an art studio, as photographer Rena Leinberger’s work was unveiled on the site’s facade last Thursday, Feb. 2.
The project was undertaken by the The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), an East Williamsburg based art collective, and the DOT’s Urban Art Program, which brings artwork to DOT facilities to beautify the neighborhood.
Leinberger’s work, entitled “when it opens like this, up is not over,” consists of a series of six large photographs erected on the facility’s corrugated metal fence on Queens and Vernon boulevards.
In the photos, Leinberger transposes images of the view behind the facility underneath the bridge-usually hidden from the public-with photos of pieces of colorful construction equipment, such as emergency blankets or latex gloves to create what she called “a fiction.”
A former resident of Astoria, Lein berger described the exhibit as “a way of playing around with location.”
“Queens has its own interesting thing going on, she noted.
Joining the artists at the unveiling were Wendy Feuer and Emily Colasacco of the DOT, who told the Times Newsweekly that the agency helps erect about 20 pieces of art annually under varying programs.
Also heading to the exhibit were City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer and Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan.
Van Bramer expressed satisfaction that the program results in artists being paid for their work, and added that is helps make art available for those “who didn’t even know they were stumbling upon it.”
The exhibit will be on display until October.
