Written by Claire Leaden, Bianca Bahamondes, & Brianna Perry
In its eighth 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 candy-colored beauty was designed by Brooklyn-based artist Melissa Dadourian. The theme for this year’s mural is sustainability, and this year’s ocean-inspired work “A Letter From The Ocean” is by Brooklyn-based artist Hratch Arbach.
Here’s a bit about the artist: Hratch Arbach, a Syrian-Armenian artist with a Ph.D. in microbiology and virology, studied at one of the leading Paris-based Art schools, l’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs. The key element of his work is the human state from past to present, by constantly seeking to push the boundaries of our consciousness on the way to unification. By guiding his conceptual thinking towards poetry, his projects are standing at the intersection of the collective memory of trauma, inherited from his diverse origins and personal life experiences.
The pool deck is 8,000 square feet, so this year’s mural took two weeks and almost 75 gallons of paint to complete! The design reflects “imaginary scenes inspired by the ocean wonderland,” and is filled with bright colors and eye-catching patterns and designs.
“‘Letters from the Ocean’ is a series of drawings that I’m currently working on: imaginary scenes inspired by the ocean wonderland. These precise hand-drawn blue lines are generated through an immersive meditative process that connects the micro process of the mind that rhymes with the dynamic ecosystem of the ocean at risk from human obliviousness,” shared Arbach.
Given Roosevelt Island’s specific location in a tidal estuary and its fragile relation with the Atlantic Ocean, this seems like the perfect place to locate this installation. I am proud of the work and feel privileged that so many will enjoy the mural this summer.
Considering its bright, colorful appearance we can already expect our Instagram feeds to be flooded with photos from here!
The pool is open weekdays 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.; 12:45 p.m. – 4 p.m.; 4:15 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. and weekends & holidays 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.; 1:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.; 5 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.
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!
Also published on Medium.