In its ninth season, Roosevelt Island’s waterfront pool is back with yet another gorgeous colorful mural on its pool deck.
Every year since 2014, K&CO Design and Pliskin Architecure have worked with the Manhattan Park residential complex to create a pop-up art installation for the Manhattan Park Pool Club, commissioning a different local artist each year.
Last year’s ocean-inspired work was designed by Brooklyn-based artist Hratch Arbach, and this year’s iteration, by NYC-based artist James Gortner, explores the themes of joy of existence and sustainability.
Here’s a bit about the artist: Gortner focuses his art on sustainability and uses reclaimed paint harvested from various sources to create his work. He does this as a painterly “gesture” to raise awareness, but also with practical intent to reduce waste and demand for new paint production.
This year’s design is a contemporary take on intuitive bursts of color made using a handful of techniques including rolling, spraying, throwing, mixing, scraping, sanding, and brushing.
The pool deck is 8,000 square feet, so this year’s mural took five days and 60 gallons of paint to complete!
“When I make a painting, one key point of inspiration besides sustainability is to make the painting as much a mosaic of ideas and forces as NYC itself is. It’s awesome to me that the viewer could experience this work at the pool while seeing a panoramic view of this city,” said Gortner.
Look at the changing nature of the sky and the river, look at the painting as a whole, and also zoom in on small marks and passages to find glimpses of past layers of transmuted mural paint inside the work. I hope people contemplate that beautiful, new things can be made Greener.
Considering its bright, colorful appearance we can already expect our Instagram feeds to be flooded with photos from here!
Roosevelt Island’s Waterfront Pool is open weekdays 9:15 am – 12:35 pm, 12:50 pm – 4:15 pm, and 4:30 pm – 7:45 pm, and weekends & holidays 10:15 am – 1:15 pm, 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm, and 4:45 pm – 7:45 pm.
If you’re not a resident of Roosevelt Island you can still stop by the pool throughout the summer on weekdays for $55 and $70 on the weekend. Roosevelt Island residents can access the pool for $35 during weekdays and $45 on weekends.
Email info@manhattanpark.com or call 212.759.8660 to make a reservation. You can also purchase a season-long or monthly membership. Find more info on their website here!
Written by Claire Leaden, Bianca Bahamondes, & Brianna Perry