Client: MTA Art & Design
Artist: Olalekan Jeyifous
Photo credits: Anthony Artis
Technique: Hand Painted and airbrushed enamels with sandblasting on tempered glass.
DESCRIPTION: Olalekan Jeyifous’ artwork for the 8 Av station explores connections between culture, architecture, and food found in Brooklyn‘s diverse Sunset Park neighborhood. The artwork, "Made With Love" is a series of 28 triptych compositions that combine architectural and urban elements of the neighborhood with culinary dishes known and loved by the local community and visitors.
Combining hand drawing and digital illustration, Jeyifous captures iconic food practices that reflect the diverse cultural make-up of the neighborhood. Food items such as dumplings, egg tarts, kebabs, tacos, churros, borscht, and lasagna are morphed into building facades, store fronts, mailboxes, fruit stands, and subway cars. Imagery captured from the surrounding neighborhood is rendered into simplified, graphic shapes in vibrant hues.
"Made With Love" was translated into laminated glass panels by Glasmalerei Peters Studios and can be seen on both platforms of the station. The engaging and joyful work is meant to generate playful and whimsical responses from riders as they discover familiar elements from their cultures and communities.