Off-site: Backyard Pool

BACKYARD POOL IS LOCATED AT “THE LOT”
43-29 CRESCENT STREET, COURT SQUARE, LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS
The Lot is free & open to the public. Open hours through September 20th*:
– Thursdays from 5-10PM
– Saturdays & Sundays from 3-10PM
*after September 20th, The Lot is open on Saturdays & Sundays from 10AM-6PM

Thanks to the generous support of Rockrose Development Corp. Socrates Sculpture Park will present a new project this summer at 43-29 Crescent Street in Long Island City, where an asphalt parking lot has been transformed into a temporary green space. The lot will be open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am – 6pm, and is located at the entrance of the new M. Wells Steakhouse. This summer’s project will be the second public artwork to be installed at the lot, since the inaugural project – Parting – opened in July 2013.

Backyard Pool by artist Tamara Johnson is the second public art presentation by Socrates Sculpture Park here at The Lot.  As her title suggests, Johnson’s installation formally resembles small family pools that are ubiquitous in many suburban backyards across the country, and especially in the artist’s hometown of Waco, Texas. By inserting faithful details, from ceramic tiles to a full-sized diving board, into this landscape, Backyard Pool offers a moment of intimacy and serenity to the bustling urbanity of Long Island City, Queens.

Despite the pleasant recollections Backyard Pool may evoke, it is a tragic flagship of non-functionality and dislocation, a product of the artist’s longing and nostalgia, and her attempt to recreate comfort and familiarity in a rapidly changing environment. As a universal visualization of fading memories and forgotten landscapes, Backyard Pool belongs to no particular backyard; instead, its formal strength and undulating materiality create a common experience.

Created specifically for The Lot, Backyard Pool is a new, site-specific iteration of Tamara Johnson’s A Public Pool, 2013, which was originally commissioned for Socrates Sculpture Park’s 2013 Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

By Subway:

E, M to Ely Ave; 7, G to Court Square. Walk north on 23rd St, make a right on 44th Rd. Or take N/Q to Queensboro Plaza. Walk south on 25th Street, make a left on 44th Rd.
By Bus:
Q100 or Q69 to Queens Plaza/24th Street.

Download the press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE_Backyard Pool by Tamara Johnson