Stephen Mallon
"Next Stop Atlantic"
Opening Thursday, February 3rd from 6-9pm
Presented at:
Calumet Photographic
22 West 22nd St, 2nd Fl.
February 3rd-19th, 2011
Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30-5:30, Sat 9-5:30
Calumet Photographic and Front Room gallery present ‘Next Stop Atlantic’ a solo exhibition of photographs by Stephen Mallon, opening February 3rd from 6-9pm, continuing through February 19, 2011. Mallon's stunning series of photographs track the final passage of hundreds of decommissioned subways cars as they make their way to their last stop: The Atlantic Ocean.
In a bold move, the NYC Transit authority joined the artificial reef building program off the East Coast of the US in 2000 and sent stripped and decontaminated subway cars off on barges to be dropped into the Ocean in order to build refuge for many species of fish and crustaceans which would colonize the structures. Mallon traces the progress of the train cars on their way towards their last voyage, majestic waves approach the viewer in these large scale photographs as they too are transported out to sea to behold the lifting and transfer of these massive machines. One photograph hauntingly depicts elements of nature creeping into their barren hulls, drifts of snow lines the walkways, a glimpse of sunshine streams through their removed doors as they wait in stacks to be carted off to sink to the dark depths of the ocean floor. Mallon's photographs elicit both the sadness and the beauty of cascading water overtaking these iconic figures of New York transit as they sink beneath the surface of the water; surges and sprays are caught in time. Stephen Mallon dedicated the last three years to following this endeavor, chronicling the last phase of NYC Transit's involvement in this program. The photographs that are presented in this exhibition capture the grandiosity of this effort; the weight of these 18-ton train cars can be felt as they are ferried off and plunged into the water.
