Video: Underbelly Project: underground street art in New York
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Exhibition "Underbelly Project", which was attended by 103 street artists from around the world, could have become one of the most high-profile and anticipated art projects of the year, but it was quite the opposite. It is located underground, in one of the abandoned metro stations - but no one knows exactly where. There were no spectators, no critics, no collectors in the huge room with drawings applied directly to the wall. Moreover, the opening day of the exhibition became at the same time the day of its closing. And this is not at all a fatal accident: everything happened exactly as the organizers of this unprecedented event intended.
The organizers of the exhibition are two New York-based artists known as Workhorse and PAC. Two years ago, they accidentally discovered an abandoned subway station and decided to turn it into the world's most original art gallery. Each of the hundreds of guest artists (including Mark Jenkins, ROA, Swoon) created one drawing under the ground. Work on the project lasted 18 months, and all the authors worked exclusively at night: after all, it is simply impossible to get to the station during the day when trains are running.
After the project was completed, Workhorse and PAC destroyed all the gadgets they used to get to the abandoned station. However, before that, the organizers invited several photographers and journalists to cover the unusual exhibition in the press. At the same time, a requirement was put forward for all articles and photographs: not to contain any hints of the location of the underground gallery. “We want to preserve some of the sacredness of this place,” says PAC. "But at the same time, we want people to know about its existence."
According to the authors' assumptions, their works will survive in complete darkness for about 20-30 years: it is unlikely that graffiti will survive longer in conditions of high humidity in the underground. And ideally, over these several decades, a human's foot should not step into the underground gallery. Although, of course, it is possible that people will get here earlier: either subway workers or adventurers. “We do not create illusions for ourselves that no one else will ever see these works,” says Workhorse. "But we will do our best to make it happen as late as possible."
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