NYC Times Square "Free Hugs" Original Painting
NYC Times Square "Free Hugs" Original Painting
Times Square "Free Hugs"
Times Square gets two paintings simply for the amount of activity that goes on there at any given day. This painting is based on a trip I took during Christmas break one year. There, among the costumed characters looking for cash, the "Naked Cowboy", and the various street vendors, on this evening was a guy holding a sign "Free Hugs". Depending on your amount of suspicion and outlook on life, this guy was either up to no good, or could apparently offer no good, as very few would take him up on his offer. Was he some deviant getting his kicks from "free hugs"? Was he looking to lift wallets while the hugs ensued? Was he performing street theater? Or genuinely offering a hug to someone who needed it on this particular day? We'll never know. And truth be told, to most New Yorkers who have seen it all, they probably didn't even notice him.
NOTE: Canvas prints require approximately one week for manufacturing. This is in addition to shipping time.
About the NYC Pop Art series
NYC is a unique place. It’s been a place of school, work and play over the years that I have lived just outside this city. At times there have been equal parts intrigue and frustration. I have a host of memories spanning the mundane of walking city blocks to get to a job, circling for lengthy time periods on unfortunate occasions looking for parking, and magical moments of taking in the Christmas festivities of Rockefeller Center.
Aside from the lights and action of Times Square, the city has a pretty drab color palette. Grey, brown, black, tan… it often does not match the energy the city actually gives off. So I decided to create a Pop Art series of NYC scenes (mostly taken from snapshots over the years) that would depict the city opposite of what you would actually see visually. I replaced the muted colors for a much more vibrant ones. I created buildings and architecture in loose lines as opposed to the precise, exacting lines that actually exist. It’s an alternate reality NYC captured with mood and energy.
