Penn Station Subway
34th and Penn Station
Elizabeth Grajales
When the animals speak 1998
Ceramic mosaic on platform 3
handmade mosaic relief tiles on platforms 1 and 2
This series of mosaics depicts wild beats in rural pastures, hinting at the work by Edward Hicks, Peaceable Kingdom. There is a lion that is depicted with birds, happily interacting with each other. There is a stream that is meant to represent the Hudson River with cliffs that are a metaphor the Palisades in NJ in the background. In the next mosaic, a bear watches a doe and her kids, another shows birds flying and others in a nest. The nature scenes lighten the dark and eerie station, bringing bright colors and a calming scenery.
Eric Fischl
The Garden of Circus Delights, 2001
Glass mosaic throughout station
This work pays tribute to the annual circus that presents at Madison Sq Garden. Fischl works in a narrative format that has the viewer follow the piece through the walls of the station. Within the narrative, there seems to be embedded a tradition. The whimsical and charismatic characters bring the space to life as it pulls the viewer into a playful scene that transforms the transit scene and transports the viewer to a different world within the mosaic.
14th St Station
Tom Otterness
Life Underground 2001
Bronze Cast Sculpture 
These sculptures were in the Doris C. Freedman Plaza before it makes its permanent home in the 14th St 8th Ave station. The satirical political-cartoon like sculptures enact action packed scenes in odd parts of the subway system. Some are simply for show, others seem to be representing a satirical scene, social structures, socio-economic class stereotypes, and corruption in a comical way. Their occupation of space and interaction with the station seems subtle but it is nevertheless hard to miss.
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