Oil on Canvas
60 x 84 Inches
2004
I have looked into the hole in the ground for many months . Filling the void with something hopeful and loving is what my minds conjured when I look there. A bed of clouds moves in . The ethereal cloud substance tenderly supports and elevates the lovers above the recent past and its painful memory.The bedroom becomes the their beloved NYC. The walls are removed the bedroom are the city. Their soft bed of clouds contrast the abrasive brick and mortar, steel and glass. I work from a particular vision ,a hallucination if you like, I always have.I starred at this large blank canvas for a week. When I know what I’m going to paint I’ll do how ever many sketches necessary to feel confident before starting.The elements are painted realistic but the vision is a fantasy. This painting required numerous architectural sketches and the Double Helix in the sky too. I wanted uplifting architecture to redefine the downtown skyline. Fortunately the LMDC, NYC and NY State officials wanted it too. The 2 largest structures nearest the viewer, THE FREEDOM TOWERS and The 80 South St. Tower were in conceptual stages when I imagined this painting. In May ’04 when I started seeing this painting in my minds eye the only designs available for these bld.’s were the finalists sketches on the cover of N.Y. POST. Websites had little and there still are no blu-prints in the public domain for these buildings. At length I managed to get a fairly clear idea as to what Mr. Liberskind and Santiago Calatrava had in mind for the two main structures in the foreground. It was somewhat of a challenge to paint the buildings accurately before they are built. Time will tell over the next several years how well I have accurately imagined there appearance. Everyone downtown eventually spends an evening in the bar @ City Hall. It is an exceptional honor for me to have ‘Fallen Towers’ exhibited in CITY HALL. Elisha and Henry Meer are gracious friends and neighbors. They share with me an optimism about the future that is expressed in this picture. I have felt for many years that City Hall is the quintessential downtown Manhattan place. There is a vibe which is what downtown is and feels like to me readily found there. I am proud and happy to have this painting on the magnificent brick wall opposite the bar. Fallen Towers” describes and awaits the future in a context of love and a vision of tranquility