Mia Cross’ We the People 2

Risa Puno’s Year of the Dog

Aakash Nihalani’s Blancing Act I

Mehdi Ghadyanloo’s Spaces ofHope

Tour Temporary Art by Risa Puno, Mia Cross, Mehdi Ghadyanloo, and Aakash Nihalani

[All photo captions below are excerpted from artist statements on Greenway site.]

This final Friday in April, Greenway Art Ambassadors will lead a one-hour tour of phenomenal public art. The tour includes four engaging works of art, each within minutes of the next. All four are temporary; all four will likely be gone by next April, though new temporary art will take their places.

These current four have given me such valued visits, I’m hoping for still more time with each. I’m posting now to alert you to the tour before it’s over and to give basic background about the artists, their art and my appreciation of their time.

Greenway Public Art Tour, April 27, noon 

https://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/events/calendar/

Art Ambassadors

Risa Puno: Year of the Dog,  Chinatown Park

Year of the Dog celebrates the characteristics of the current Chinese zodiac animal and honors the collective memory and experiences of the Chinatown community.

Through her research, Puno was inspired by conversations she had with people who live, work, or play near Chinatown Park.

She was moved by their memories of Chinatown, ……

…. as well as their thoughts about the personality characteristics associated with the zodiac Dog, such as generosity, loyalty, and the ability to work well with others.

The spinnable blocks are engraved with traditional Chinese characters and excerpts of the stories that Puno collected from the community.

Time to Touch, Turn, Think, Talk

https://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/public-art/currently-greenway/risa-puno/

Risa Puno artist website

Mia Cross: We the People II

Over the course of a month while creating this mural, I approached all types of strangers, asked to photograph their eyes, and then painted them along this 140-foot span.

Through this simple act, my intention was to reflect the diverse community of downtown Boston.

To my surprise, people often approached me, and returned more than once, asking “is my eye up yet?”

I hope that these personal connections create a sense of ownership for the people I met or who watched it evolve.

Despite being strangers before, the mural became the glue between us.

“We the People II” serves as a visual connection between members of this unique community.

Time to Follow Faces, Fruits, and Featured Eyes 

https://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/public-art/currently-greenway/mia-cross/

 Mia Cross artist website

Make Eye Contact Many Times with “We the People II”

Mehdi Ghadyanloo: Spaces of Hope

Mehdi Ghadyanloo, an emerging star in the international art community, has become widely known for painting surrealist city-scale murals in his native Tehran,

and his Greenway mural represents his American debut.

After graduation in 2004, Ghadyanloo answered an open call from the Municipality of Tehran’s Beautification Bureau to promote public art in the city.

Ghadyanloo submitted 10 proposals for murals, all hope-filled utopian designs that played with gravity and perspective.

Time to Track the Climb from Ground to Sky

https://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/public-art/currently-greenway/mehdi-ghadyanloo/

Mehdi Ghadyanloo artist website 

A Welcome Wall: Mural by Mehdi Ghadyanloo on Greenway Now

Aakash Nihalani: Balancing Act, I and II

Using a variety of mediums from masking tape to metal, Aakash Nihalani creates minimalist geometric forms on two-dimensional planes that simulate three-dimensional interactive experiences.

Exploiting the malleability of human senses, Aakash’s site-specific artworks modulate our spatial perceptions to provoke surprising and often humorous moments that interrupt the routine of our everyday life.

Balancing Act is comprised of two playful sculptures of tilting and toppling blocks caught in a state of suspended animation.

Balancing Act II depicts haphazard blocks precariously piled up, seemingly just a nudge away from collapse.

The sparring undercurrent of structure versus disorder in both works reflects the contrast of The Greenway against the surrounding urban landscape,

as well as the delicate relationship between nature and industrialization in our world today.

Time to Walk or Run Around the Whole

https://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/public-art/currently-greenway/aakash-nihalani/

Aakash Nihalani artist website