#arthotel

Pedro Friedberg , “Chichemeca” staircase,

“La Valise,” San Miguel de Allende, Mexico,

“La Valise,” San Miguel de Allende, Mexico,

SPLENDID QUEENS: QUEENS IS A PLACE

I am A King McCarty, a multidisciplinary artist from Astoria, Queens. In 2016, I started my blog, Splendid Astoria on Tumblr.  I started drawing because it helped me better understand my world and appreciate the beauty in it. I found that prior to making art a part of my daily practice, I was overlooking some of the most magical aspects of the world I lived in and dwelling only on the darkness. I was living an extraordinary life, but all I could feel was the anxiety. I began drawing only for myself, and then I started putting the pieces up here.The internet is a vast place, and I didn’t expect much to come of it. And then something did. In early 2018 I received a grant from the Queens Council on the Arts to continue my work for three months at a hotel in Corona, Queens. From February through May I worked steadily several times a week, drawing in the lobby of the SpringHill Suites, LaGuardia and exploring the neighborhoods of Flushing, East Elmhurst and Corona. In the end I was able to create 42 new pieces, detailing my life and discoveries during this time.

About halfway through the residency, I was required to start organizing my pieces for a show. I had an eclectic amount of material: crowded 7 trains and buses on Northern Blvd., sprawling mansions and pink petals in Flushing-Corona Park. There were dragons, castles, fishing boats, safety stores, night markets, science centers, and a diner that sold the most excellent hamburgers. I had studies of  locals and visitors, a pudu in the Queens Zoo and a vibrant sketch from the day I walked to Malcolm X's house. I had to find a common thread. And as it turned out, the common thread was Queens.

Queens is more than the buildings you drive past on the way to the airport. Queens is a place. Queens is a color. Queens is a people. Queens is a party. Queens is the future. Queens is New York. I believe in Queens. And I believe if we all try a little harder to act like her, the world can be a more hopeful, more splendid, more welcoming place.

For the next several posts I’ll be sharing my art from my period at ArtHotel, which turned out to be one of the most inspiring times of my life. The pieces were part of the solo show “Splendid Queens: the Art of A King McCarty” which opened on May 15th, 2018 at the SpringHill Suites, LaGuardia in Queens, NYC. All of these places are available to visit, as I did, and several of the pieces are available as prints. Please visit my website akingmccarty.weebly.com to purchase a copy.  Welcome to our splendid world. Welcome to Queens. #SplendidQueens #IBelieveinQueens

Instagram/Twitter: @AKingMcCarty

AKingMcCarty.weebly.com

Hayama Kachi House, Tokyo, Japan,

The Prairie Style House was originally designed by Arata Endo in 1928,

“Scenario,” Vicolo delle Ceste in the IX district, Rome, Italy,