Original design for one of the 20 art panels comprising Urban Dualities at Jefferson/USC Station. Unusual juxtapositions—an arm sticking out of a car window, a man riding a bike and a mythical amphibian-like creature—are intended to capture both literal images seen while traveling on public transit and those inside riders’ daydreaming minds.
Samuel Rodriguez presents images with fragments of building facades, vintage rail cars, human figures, and fictional characters in his artwork for the Expo Line’s Jefferson/USC Station.
Each of the 20 art panels is visually divided by the silhouette of bike frame parts, resembling the layout of a comic book. The artist chose bicycle imagery to emphasize the human-powered modes of transportation alongside the rail line. Each panel is an invitation to engage the mind in a playful fantasy along the route between starting point and destination. (Here’s a link to more information about Rodriguez’s work for Jefferson/USC Station.)
Hand-glazed ceramic tiles are matched to the artist’s original artwork designs at the mosaic fabricator, Mosaïka Art & Design.
Highly skilled artisans at Mosaïka Art & Design cut each piece of hand-glazed ceramic tile into tiny mosaics and place them into art panels.
Many more photos are posted after the jump…
Team of artisans work on the art panels at Mosaïka’s studio
Detail of Urban Dualities
Art panel hanging from a crane, being installed in its new home on the station platform.
Gateway arch art panel being installed
Other Art for the Expo Line stories on the Source:
- The Intimacy of Place by Christofer Dierdorff
- Ephemeral Views by Ronald Llanos
- On Saturdays by Robbert Flick
- Neighborhood Reconstructed by Jessica Polzin McCoy
- Willie Middlebrook’s Designs for Expo/Crenshaw Station
Categories: Metro Art