My latest large painting is part of an ongoing series of oils and a watercolor I began in 1979 about this dislocation. Living in and working in Portland while visualizing elements and realities of NYC's intensity has always given me a curiously perverse thrill, a kind of best of both worlds. Although I spent my formative years in and around New York, I also felt inexplicably drawn to the west from my earliest memories and prefer it as a base of operations ...with my forays into the grit, density and overloads of the city taken in measured doses for added stimulation as necessary.
The background here is just off state route 14 near Dallesport, Washington overlooking the Columbia River. I was able to drive up a gravel road and climb over the barbed wire fence to wander through the rocky rangeland so I could get just the right point of view and and sun angle to match my library of subway entrance reference photos.
The oldest visual reference I can find to this subject is the opening scene in Buster Keaton's 1922 classic film "The Frozen North":
Buster Keaton in the film Frozen North
Here are two interesting links to artist Martin Kippenberger's Metro-Net project I recently learned about of installations he began in 1993 of full size replica subway stops in various cities worldwide. It appears other artists are also picking up where he left off:
My wonderful gallery representation: LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
And as always, you can also contact me directly by email: info@sethtane.com and follow my occasional photo posts on: Instagram