Amtrak is pleased to kick off Art at Amtrak’s third year with the latest installation at New York Penn Station by New York-based artist Rico Gatson, which will open on Thursday, 25th January. The art, Untitled (Collective Light Transfer), will cover the entire station concourse and remain on view through the summer.
“The latest Art at Amtrak showcase weaves light, color and culture together to surprise and delight customers and station visitors,” said Amtrak Vice President, Northeast Corridor Service Line Jina Sanone. “As we enter the third year of the popular Art at Amtrak program, your next journey through the station will be even brighter and more inspiring thanks to the brilliant vision of local artists like Rico.”
Untitled (Collective Light Transfer) features geometric compositions alongside a carefully selected color palette, which illuminate the station with pulsating energy and evoke a sense of resonating rhythm and vibration. Radiating lines and concentric circles echo the collective movement of bodies circulating throughout the station.
Gatson’s artistic process layers ideas and inspirations he has ruminated on throughout his career, such as spirituality, African, Native and Indigenous artistic practice, music as a transcendental force, illumination as a concept, abstract mathematics and the role of art in counterculture movements and political identity. In totality, the designs in Untitled (Collective Light Transfer) come together to uplift, reflect, and guide travelers as they move between the rotunda, the concourse, their train and their next destination.
Art at Amtrak launched in June 2022 and has commissioned temporary installations for New York Penn Station by New York and New Jersey artists including Shoshanna Weinberger, David Rios Ferreira, Derrick Adams, Dennis RedMoon Darkeem, Ghost of a Dream, Saya Woolfalk and Dahlia Elsayed. In 2023, the initiative grew to include the Metropolitan Lounge at Moynihan Train Hall, where Karen Margolis’ four-panel artwork Continuum is permanently installed, as well as Amtrak’s William H. Gray 30th Street Station in Philadelphia and Washington Union Station. More information about Art at Amtrak, including pictures and details about each installation can be found on the Amtrak website.
Art at Amtrak has been curated by Debra Simon Art Consulting since the program’s inception. Simon was Director of Public Art at the Times Square Alliance; created Arts Brookfield, the largest privately funded public art program in the United States; and co-founded the River to River festival.
