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.
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Excellent piece. And it is unfortunate that Manhattan was removed from that lobby.