Photo courtesy Manhattan Park Pool Party by Tim Williams
Our favorite pop-up pool, the Manhattan Park Pool Party on Roosevelt Island, is back for the summer, sporting its new annual colorful design by an artist. Two years ago, HOT TEA created a psychedelic, fluorescent ombre pattern and last year Andrew Farris went for a subtler, pastel concoction. This year, artist Gregg Emery has added more figurative flourishes with the work entitled “Waves of Roosevelt Island,” covering the 8,000 square foot pool and deck.
Photo courtesy Manhattan Park Pool Party by Tim Williams
Emery is known for his abstract explorations of the circle and the square, often painted on the ground, akin to Jackson Pollack, but with more control using non-traditional tools like wooden boards, metal bars, and spray paint in what he calls “swooping gestures.” He uses his own physicality to determine when a movement is complete.
He states, “I revel in how simple marks, a circle or sweep, and a straight drag of paint can make so many complicated marks and colors; it is reminiscent of how simple gestures or actions can have rippling effects. I see my paintings as layered and influenced by all of my interactions and experiences.”
Photo courtesy Manhattan Park Pool Party by K&Co and Pliskin Architecture and K&Co designers Krista Ninivaggi and Micah McKelvey
Emery says that the work at the Manhattan Park Pool Club is inspired by a combination of the opening scene in the 1965 James Bond movie Goldfinger, by the famous Japanese woodblock engraving “Great Wave Off Kanagawa” by Hokusai, and Sarah Sze’s recent MTA Arts & Design commission, “Blueprint for a Landscape” in the new Second Avenue Subway line at 96th Street.
Photo courtesy Manhattan Park Pool Party by K&Co and Pliskin Architecture and K&Co designers Krista Ninivaggi and Micah McKelvey
Explaining to DNAinfo in more detail, Emery states, “On the one hand, we have the frozen moment in time of the wave that encircles, captivates… with a barely perceptible boat of people tracing a course through it’s zen-like motion. On the other, we have Sze’s use of patterns of paper, buildings to move us through a space. Surrounding and enveloping, assisting and becoming part of the structure, the landscape as we move through the island of Manhattan, riding a subway train through the encircling motion much like the boat of people in Hokusai’s famous print.”
Michelle is the founder of Untapped New York and the author of The Art Spy (HarperOne, forthcoming) Secret Brooklyn, Secret New York Hidden Bars & Restaurants, and Broadway. michelleyoungwriter.com
