Streets: Paul Wackers (New York)

For those passing through SoHo in New York, a pretty sweet wall at the James Hotel from Paul Wackers may make it worth your while to stop for a look. Featuring the locally-based artist's modern take on still life imagery, the wall on the hotel's Sixth Avenue facade is the first new phase of their #jamespublicart initiative. Wackers further explains - "I wanted to work with the shape of the wall to create a narrative within the piece itself—the same way I would over many pieces within a solo show of my paintings. I was able to create a story with this piece by using compositional elements and recurring motifs: a cabinet with familiar but intangible objects, plants, pots and vaguely historical imagery. It incorporates many of the objects and shapes which I see as characters that can interact in different ways through use of color, line and juxtaposition. This installation depicts the version of a passage of time. The first object has a sense of potential energy and growth. As you make your way through the mural, you see a human manipulation of this energy in conflict and in conjunction with the natural, and end with the hopeful balance of the two." Photo credit: Colossal Media. Discuss Paul Wackers here.