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"Art Around the Park" is an outdoor painting festival that took
place annually in late spring around the perimeter of Tompkins Square Park on
the lower east side . I participated in this event every year for
six years from 1993 to 1998. This event has been on
"hiatus" since 1998. For the 1995, 96 and 97 murals, the
theme for my outdoor paintings was "hearts." Here are the
paintings:
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This was the first painting where I used a giant heart
stencil to randomly layout hearts at the scene. The palette of
"military colors" carried over from my paintings of aircraft
markings and camouflage. The stencil was made from two curved
lines that were drawn on a computer, flipped, and then joined. The
hearts are 23" across! This painting was shown in "reign of hearts" in
1996. |
Sylvie Ball
Art © 1995 Sylvie Ball
Go No-Go 1995
Photography © 1995 Sylvie Ball
acrylic on billboard vinyl
80" x 76" (stretched)
Painted on May 13 |
Time Line: Oklahoma City
Bombing, April 19, 1995 |
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In 1996 I used the same stencil, but went for fewer hearts,
9 seemed fine, and chose an "axial" order and rotated the
hearts in random 90 degree increments (except for the upper left where I
left a heart at a 45 degree angle.) This palette is a fusion of
military colors (blues, black, silver and yellow) and graffiti-esque
poster colors: fluorescent
green and red flashe plus "granny smith" green and
"embarrassment" purple. Once some dripping was
established in the lower right corner, I continued as I moved across the
bottom. The next row of hearts above then dripped over the
finished ones below. This painting led to a private commission
completed in 1997. (After receiving this painting the client felt
that the fluorescent colors were too strong!) |
Sylvie Ball
Art © 1996 Sylvie Ball
Tompkins Square 1996
Photography © 1996 Sylvie Ball
acrylic and flashe on billboard vinyl
90" x 80" (unstretched)
Painted on May 18
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Time Line: Value Jet Air
Disaster, May 11, 1996 |
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In 1997 I did another group of nine hearts
with a variation of the 90 degree rotations. I added some very
rich primary colors and a vivid orange for the center. Painting
under an elm tree, some seeds sprinkled down and became lodged in the
painting. A curator, Robert Ellis Patterson was nearby,
watching everyone paint. He was organizing a show called "Wet
Paint" taking place in two weeks at the Mary Anthony Gallery. He
invited me to participate in this show, where this painting was shown
elm seeds and all. |
Sylvie Ball
Art © 1997 Sylvie Ball
Untitled VII 1997
Photography © 1997 Sylvie Ball
acrylic on billboard vinyl
80" x 76" (stretched)
Painted on May 10 |
Time Line: William de
Kooning "The Late Paintings" closes at The Museum of Modern
Art on April 29, 1997. |
Click here to view: Art Around the Park '98
Click here to go to: Art Around the Park '93,
'94
Click here to go to: Woodstock '94 |
