Chelsea
Chelsea's gallery district and the High Line have created a unique environment where commissioned public art is displayed at museum quality on a neighborhood scale. The murals here are often more formally institutional than elsewhere in the city — but the concentration of major works by internationally recognized artists makes Chelsea one of the most important corridors of large-scale public painting in the United States.
Featured Artists
All artists →Keith Haring
Pittsburgh-born, New York-based artist whose bold, cartoonish figures became one of the defining visual languages of the 1980s. "Crack is Wack" at the Harlem River Drive handball court was painted without permission in 1986 and promptly confiscated — then re-commissioned by the city after public outcry. Now a landmark, it remains one of the most visited murals in the country.
Kaws
Born Brian Donnelly in Jersey City, KAWS began his career placing altered images in NYC bus shelter ads in the 1990s. His signature XX-eyed figures now appear in galleries, museums, and public spaces worldwide. "High Line Figures" was commissioned for the Friends of the High Line's public art program — monumental versions of his companion figures rendered across an entire building facade.
Os Gemeos
Brazilian twin brothers Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo, who developed their distinctive style in the 1980s São Paulo graffiti scene. Their yellow-skinned dream figures and dense narrative compositions translate the favela architectural forms of São Paulo to building walls worldwide. The Chelsea Market Wall is one of their most visited works in North America.