Object Lesson #42
by Stephen Kobasa | December 21, 2009 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Josef Albers, Let There Be Light, 1973
Mt. Bethel Missionary Baptist Church
100 Webster Street
One of the splendid moments of first seeing New York when I was young was ascending the escalators from Grand Central into a lobby of what was then the Pan Am building to discover Josef Alber’s work “Manhattan” cascading above my head.
That glory has been stripped away. But there is another of similar energy closer to hand. Invisible from the street, this local church’s entry stairwell vibrates with a mural of yellow color shifts. Hung below it, and humanizing the abstract splendor, are several wood and brass plaques with lists of honored members of the congregation. In their praise, the painting throws the sun back through the high window that illuminates it.
Object Lesson #41
Object Lesson #40
Object Lesson #39
Object Lesson #38
Object Lesson #37
Object Lesson #36
Object Lesson #35
Object Lesson #34
Object Lesson #33
Object Lesson #32
Object Lesson #31
Object Lesson #30
Object Lesson #29
Object Lesson #28
Object Lessons #26 & #27
Object Lesson #25
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Comments
Posted by: anon | December 22, 2009 2:21 PM
Excellent piece. And it is unfortunate that Manhattan was removed from that lobby.
Posted by: jawbone | December 22, 2009 4:35 PM
Very cool, Stephen.
Is this in the concrete block church designed by Peter Millard?
-Jawbone
Posted by: Liz | December 22, 2009 8:57 PM
Another great column, Stephen.
Jawbone, here's something on the designer of the building:
Posted by: jawbone | December 23, 2009 9:45 AM
I just went back and looked at some of my photos. The church I am talking about is Mt. Zion Seventh Day Adventist (presently). I'm not sure if the architect was Millard or Wu...
Posted by: Craig | December 29, 2009 6:44 PM
This church was designed by architect King-lui Wu. There are three other collaborations between Joseph Albers and Wu in the New Haven area: the Manuscript Society building (Wu) and facade (Albers) at 344 Elm Street and the two Albers designed fireplaces for the DuPont (Woodbridge) and Rouse (North Haven) houses which were designed by Wu.
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