Art Hound

Today’s artist (and architect), Robert Roscoe, hails from Minneapolis where I am currently visiting.  This is my first trip to Minneapolis in the summertime, and it’s amazing how different the city looks and feels.  While this time of year in New York is eerily quiet, Minneapolis is abuzz as residents try to enjoy every last minute of warm weather.

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The Twin Cities are both pristine, especially the beautiful, lush parks, but on this trip I’ve also noticed pockets of the city, rows of empty, outdated restaurants or half-dilapidated stores, where urban blight seems not so far off.  Roscoe’s work resonates because he captures the city’s less idyllic spots, passing over the implications of the decaying infrastructure, and instead highlighting the visual appeal of the haphazard textures, colors and geometry. While they may come across as typical urban scenes, Roscoe’s photos act as a poignant comparison point to New York in its current polished incarnation.  Roscoe’s photos capture the grittiness and raw energy that has been eliminated from New York, for better or for worse.