Artists’ Lower Manhattan on display
in Tribeca windows
BY GABE HERMAN
With New Yorkers urged to avoid
crowds and museums having
closed down because of COVID
19, one option for art lovers needing
to get out for a walk in Lower Manhattan is
a window display of illustrations by a local
artist that is up through the rest of March.
At 160 West Broadway, between Worth
and Thomas Streets in Tribeca, paintings
by artist John Lloyd are shown in the window
of the gallery Tribeca Community on
Display, showing buildings and scenes of
Lower Manhattan.
Lloyd fi rst explored Lower Manhattan
in the 1980s, when he was fi nishing art
school and had a night job in the Financial
District.
“In my free time I would explore
the Lower Manhattan area and sketch
various scenes there and became fascinated
by this part of the city,” said Lloyd, who
was born in Kyoto, Japan, and grew up in
Japan for 12 years.
Lloyd would go on to work in Midtown
for many years as a graphic designer, and
when the company moved to the Financial
District, he explored the area again and
discovered new places.
“The changes that had happened over
the years were a big surprise,” Lloyd said.
“The Downtown had come to life in the
form of many new public spaces and gardens
all over the place.”
He would fi nd places to sit and draw, and
cites unique spots like the park in elevated
acre, and the sunny atrium with palm trees
at 180 Maiden Lane.
“The variety of the architecture and
neighborhoods is amazing,” said Lloyd,
“from the remnants of the tenement
Paintings by John Lloyd of Lower Manhattan are on display in a window
at 160 W. Broadway.
buildings in the South Street Seaport area
to the Gothic Medieval atmosphere around
Trinity Church, the gorgeous neoclassical
architecture that evokes ancient Athens
or Rome in the Financial District and
the Municipal Center, the beautiful commercial
buildings of Tribeca, the energy of
Chinatown, to the theatrical jazz of the Art
Deco skyscrapers.”
The paintings on display at 160 West
Broadway are mostly acrylic or watercolor
on paper, and were done from 2016-2020.
During the past four years, working
Downtown gave Lloyd the chance to sketch
during lunch breaks, he said, along with
after work. He would return on weekends
to develop his sketches into paintings.
“The contrasting setting of crowded
narrow streets with the expansive views at
the water’s edge added to my attraction to
painting there and after wandering around
Downtown for 4 years I am still discovering
new places each time,” said Lloyd. He added
that the show in 160 West Broadway’s
William Street South Street Seaport
window illustrates “the pleasure I have had
IMAGES COURTESY JOHN LLOYD
in visiting the public spaces, exploring the
neighborhoods, and studying the gorgeous
architecture of Lower Manhattan.”
More information and artwork can be
found at www.johnll.com.
26 March 19, 2020 Schneps Media
/www.johnll.com
/www.johnll.com
