Art in the Subway
Plaza Italia subway station, Buenos Aires - Sun, 30 Dec 2018 - 5pm
Yes, you read that byline (above) right- I'm inspired to write this blog in a subway station. And it's not because the subway is packed shoulder-to-shoulder and reeks of sweat and piss like it did during our trip Friday; it's because today there were moments of sublime beauty. And also way less crowding and odor. 😉
On our trek from San Telmo, where we visited the Sunday street fair earlier today, to the Eva Peron museum, which we plan to see next, we rode Buenos Aires' venerable Subte system again, specifically Line C to Line D. At the Plaza Italia stop where we're ready to exit we found some fascinating works of public art right in the station. Here are two.
This tile mosaic shown above is on the floor. As in, you walk on it. In fact it's hard not to walk on it because it's several meters across and covers most of the width of the platform.
This tile mosaic was one of three on the walls of the mezzanine level:
A nearby display credits the artist Léonie Matthis de Villar, 1938. The subject of the work, noted in the piece, is the Jesuit Mission of San Ignacio Miní. A subcaption calls it the governor's visit. Those notes are interesting because they place the time of the scene depicted somewhere between 1696, when the mission was completed at that location, and 1768, when the Jesuits were forced to abandon it. The mission buildings have lain in ruin since 1817. So the artist of this mosaic must have been working from plans, drawings, or paintings hundreds of years old.
Yes, you read that byline (above) right- I'm inspired to write this blog in a subway station. And it's not because the subway is packed shoulder-to-shoulder and reeks of sweat and piss like it did during our trip Friday; it's because today there were moments of sublime beauty. And also way less crowding and odor. 😉
On our trek from San Telmo, where we visited the Sunday street fair earlier today, to the Eva Peron museum, which we plan to see next, we rode Buenos Aires' venerable Subte system again, specifically Line C to Line D. At the Plaza Italia stop where we're ready to exit we found some fascinating works of public art right in the station. Here are two.
This tile mosaic shown above is on the floor. As in, you walk on it. In fact it's hard not to walk on it because it's several meters across and covers most of the width of the platform.
This tile mosaic was one of three on the walls of the mezzanine level:
A nearby display credits the artist Léonie Matthis de Villar, 1938. The subject of the work, noted in the piece, is the Jesuit Mission of San Ignacio Miní. A subcaption calls it the governor's visit. Those notes are interesting because they place the time of the scene depicted somewhere between 1696, when the mission was completed at that location, and 1768, when the Jesuits were forced to abandon it. The mission buildings have lain in ruin since 1817. So the artist of this mosaic must have been working from plans, drawings, or paintings hundreds of years old.