Press Release
Artist Bio
Sponsorship
Location
Publication
Project Main Page

HDPE pipe, cloth, wisteria, tin bucket

American Idyll

September 24, 2003 -
September 30, 2004

at MetroTech Center, Brooklyn

Public Art Fund is proud to present a new exhibition of contemporary art at MetroTech Center. American Idyll continues MetroTech's commitment to supporting the work of emerging artists. Each year artists are asked to respond to the Commons, the public spaces surrounding the vibrant downtown areas of MetroTech Center and Brooklyn Polytechnic. The artists in this year's exhibition - Jon Conner, Amy Gartrell, Dave McKenzie, Pentti Monkkonen and Roman de Salvo - have each created works that observe and playfully comment upon outdoor recreation, roadside Americana, and idyllic pastimes and pleasures.

Amy Gartrell's towering Wishing Well, a stylistic departure from her other work, draws from the world of fairy tales, fables, and local theatrical productions. Meant to look like a misplaced stage prop, the painted well is adorned with climbing wisteria vines and is topped by a tin bucket that is almost impossible to reach. The distorted height of the well gives it a mischievous character, defying its audience to toss in their coins. Gartrell conceives of the Wishing Well as an optimistic challenge. According to Gartrell, "You can't just drop a penny and expect something to happen. The extra effort is what is required for the fulfillment of dreams or wishes."

Artist Bio
Amy Gartrell received a BFA from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Her work is at once macabre and sentimental, reflecting the complexities, confusion, and drama of adolescence. She has had solo exhibitions at Greene Naftali Gallery in New York (2002) and La Panadería, Mexico City, Mexcio (1998). Among her most recent group shows are Proper Villians, Untitled Space, New Haven, CT (2002), Miss World Competition 1972, Daniel Reich Gallery, NY (2001), Why is it so much easier to admire the dead?, Zingmagazine (2001), and Flea Market, Gavin Brown's Enterprise, NY (2001). She lives and works in New York.

Sponsorship
American Idyll at MetroTech Center is part of an ongoing program organized by the Public Art Fund and sponsored by MetroTech Commons Associates, an organization that consists of MetroTech companies Bear Stearns & Company, Forest City Ratner Companies, JPMorganChase, KeySpan, Polytechnic University, Securities Industry Automation Corporation (SIAC) and DOITT. Special thanks to Forest City Ratner Companies and First New York Management.

Location
MetroTech Center is situated in the Civic Center/Borough Hall area of Downtown Brooklyn.
By Subway: M, N, or R to Lawrence Street Station or the A, C, or F to Jay Street/Borough Hall, exit at Myrtle Promenade.