Colossal: When mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar moved to Philadelphia’s South Street in the 1960s, he saw an opportunity to not only revitalize a neglected area but transform it into a haven for creatives. He established his studio there and was joined by a community of artists and activists who saw potential and wanted it to thrive, even preventing a major highway construction project that would have obliterated the neighborhood.
5 comments:
YOU'RE KIDDING. This is absolutely stunning. I never had an affinity for mosaics until this past summer when I went out of the country for the first time to visit Italy. Every church I walked into was an incredible art museum primarily composed of mosaics. I have been hard-pressed to find mosaic works in the US. I loved the photo of the space from an aerial perspective. It looks like a treehouse, a playground, or a fort. I could totally see this in a fantasy movie. This reminds me of Ariel's little treasure trove in The Little Mermaid. There is so much to look at, with so many twists and turns. The colors are absolutely stunning. I was particularly drawn to the photo of the mosaic walls where one wall is all different shades of red and the other is all cool tone shades. I think I even saw a carousel of bottles. I'm telling all of my friends in Philadelphia to go here.
I actually had the wonderful opportunity to visit this place. It is truly stunning and a wonderful place to explore. It’s exciting that the 20th anniversary is coming up. I had no idea it had been around for that long. I love the fact that this piece involved the collaborations of two dozen artists. Being there, there were so many new and fun things to discover every place to turn. I’m very excited to see what the indoor galleries will be transformed into. I think it is always a very good idea to revamp museums and galleries. It attracts new visitors and also gives a reason for people to come back and look at the art in a way and context. It’s very exciting to hear that new artists and art are being brought to the garden. As previously mentioned, I feel like this would be a really effective way to liven up the space and bring new attention to it and almost open it to a new and younger audience.
This is just absolutely incredible, just breathtaking. I remember studying mosaics in middle school and just loving them as well as studying assemblage sculptures and making a few myself. Assemblage sculptures have always amazed me, how things that seem like trash and are so seemingly arbitrary can be turned into something absolutely breathtaking. These elaborate passageways created by Isaiah Zagar are truly incredible, the way the mosaics were constructed is just so impressive, the composure of the tunnels is so intricate and beautiful, you see something new everywhere you look. Just looking at the photos in the article, I see something else the longer I look. My favorite photo is the aerial photo. The overhead view, while you cannot see a lot of the details, it really shows off its incredible tunnel structure. One day I would love to experience these tunnels and bridges in person.
WOW! Just Wow! This was such a cool article to read but more interesting and fascinating to look at, the pictures in this article are just stunning and breath taking. I loved reading about the making of these “gardens” but I found myself drifting from the words just to stare at the pictures I mean come on they are just simply so incredibly stunning it is un real. I want to go to Philly so bad now, and before this I had absolutely no reason to go to Philadelphia so that's saying something. I just want to go and run around, though, over, under, between these paths and then just sit and stare. Stare at the mosaics and the metal and the sculptures. See the other people experiencing this and watch their faces discern what is happening, do some slight people watching, and then sit and stare again. Just so freaking cool and beautiful.
I thoroughly enjoyed this article, it shows what a community can do to preserve something that is important to them. The fact that the community was able to come together and purchase the land so that Isaiah Zagar was able to continue on his work of bringing art to the people. Plus, the Magic Garden being incorporated into a nonprofit to allow Isaiah Zagar to continue his work. I also just think that art like this is important to the world we live in. I love that it’s not just about one artist’s work, and that some many others are incorporated. I do enjoy the idea of wandering through a maze of art that is all different kind of media, yet it’s able to draw the viewer in. The Magic Gardens is definitely something that will be on my list to visit if I wind up in Philadelphia at some point.
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