In a nutshell: in the late 1940s and early 50s, Tom Stefopoulos was working as a watchman in the railroad yards in the area of Northwest that used to be industrial and is now the Pearl District. During slow times at work, he drew fanciful images in chalk on the pillars of the overpass.
The story of their creation and preservation is pretty fascinating. It's that thing again about the layers of history, art and culture in cities - how we reflect and modify and archive.
More on this perhaps to come.
2 comments:
Of course it is more complicated than I expected. An authenticity and context debate. An idea to preserve the original paintings by removing them (from columns!) and putting them indoors somewhere - and reproduce the paintings on outdoor columns. Alas, I know them only as reproductions from film and photo. Tom S. reproduced them himself, layering paint on top of chalk. I actually still don't know the latest on this story. I am still compelled.
"images seeping with the fact of being lost."
my oh my, this actually made me cry. i'm excited to get some work done now, in some form. awesome. also, the story is fascinating.
nik
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