Art of the New York Subway

Adrian Brune. Frances Lincoln, $45 (256p) ISBN 978-1-80570-218-4

Journalist Brune debuts with an exhilarating ode to “the diverse museum of priceless art” contained within the New York City subway system. Collecting photographs taken at hundreds of MTA stations in four of the five boroughs, she spotlights Fulton Street’s terra cotta murals, created in 1913 by Frederick Dana Marsh to illustrate the history of the New York Harbor; Canal Street’s Empress Voyage 2.22.1794, Bing Lee’s playful installation of tiles commemorating an 18th-century ship’s expedition from New York City to China and back; and Buhre Avenue’s Have a Happy Day by Soonae Tark, where mosaics with rainbow-bright, swirly patterns aim to evoke “uplifting, positive feelings in commuters.” Other stations celebrate the city’s diversity with such installments as 82nd Street—Jackson Heights station’s Feasts in Motion by Kira Nam Greene, in which a smorgasbord of international delicacies shows how food can be a “bridge between communities,” or pay tribute to its cultural attractions, as with Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum’s installation of 78 grotesques and gargoyles from the museum’s collection. Brune’s impressively broad scope and concise, thorough project histories combine for an exciting armchair tour of the city’s underground treasures. Lovers of public art and the Big Apple will find plenty to enjoy. (Nov.)