City Life - Open Streets

In Brooklyn these days, they open the streets.

Cars aren't allowed and people can relax. Some people think that cities are loud dirty places, but in Brooklyn at least, you remove the cars and you can hear conversation, people laughing, unamplified music.

On this cold windy night, a trio jams in front of a row of old brownstones with brightly lit stores on the first floor. The saxophonist, Avram Fefer, bobs and weaves, the bebop bop of the music rising and falling with his body. A kid walks by, and Avram, gets down on one knee and dances dilly dally with the boy. The parents look on, rocking their heads back and forth to the music.

It's dark outside, but not really.

Though the painting focuses on the sax player, I tried to capture the feeling of being in the street at night, the wind cutting through, the dark that is not darkness because it's Brooklyn and there are lights everywhere. I wanted to paint the darkness being twisted by the music, as if the air itself were at play. 

Avram is one of those musicians who puts his entire being into the song. He bends down, rears up, paces back and forth, seeming to pull the notes out of the air. I started with one Avram, but to really capture the feeling of that night, I needed five, and even that doesn't quite get to it. 

I was also inspired by the stunning photos of Avram taken by Shabazz Stuart that night.

This is the new city life.

The actual painting is 20" x 16" but it feels bigger and faster than that. There are layers and layers of color and in the prints you can see and feel the noodling and thought that went into it. When I paint like this, I like to think I'm improvising like a jazz musician, capturing and stretching the melody, disrupting the rhythms, changing the feel of the music.

The prints are gorgeous.

I print these on a 21" x 17" paper leaving about 1/2" on each side and 1" on the bottom so that there's room for the signature and they're easy to frame. 

I am so excited about the quality of these prints. It's uncanny how they capture all the nuance and subtle coloration of the original. People who have seen these prints cannot believe that they are not looking at an original. It's not a poster, but rather a full representation of my vision.

I use a top-of-the-line Epson printer with pigment ink that is tested to last 200 years. I print on Hahnemühle German Etching all-cotton archival 310 g/mA Paper.

Each print is numbered and signed by me.