by Stephen Powers
Just released: February 2014
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Genre: Art
Paperback: 176 pages
Rating: 4.5
Series:
Steve Powers: A Love Letter for You
A Love Letter to the City by Stephen Powers
Stretched across city walls and along rooftops, Stephen Powers's colorful large-scale murals sneak up on you. "Open your eyes / I see the sunrise", "If you were here I'd be home," "Forever begins when you say yes."
What at first looks like nothing as much as an advertisement suddenly becomes something grander and more mysterious—a hand-painted love letter at billboard size.
Combining community activism and public art, Powers and his team of sign mechanics collaborate with a neighborhood's residents to create visual jingles— sincere and often poignant affirmations and confessions that reflect the collective hopes and dreams of the host community.
A Love Letter to the City gathers the artist's powerful public art project for the first time, including murals on the walls and rooftops of Brooklyn and Syracuse, New York; Philadelphia; Dublin and Belfast, Ireland; São Paolo, Brazil, and Johannesburg, South Africa.
My two-bits:
Love letters, indeed, short and to the point. Loved the concept for this art project which incorporated words in art form. I found the background stories behind the photographed pieces helped me better understand and appreciate the project. The stories also provided some explanation as to what I was looking at and how it related to each city.
* review copy courtesy of publisher
