Print“Union Square” brings many things to mind: pretzel vendors, tourists, and questionable curry stands. However, Union Square is not just a place for NYU students to bring their bagged 40s—it is a destination for aspiring artists, who come from all over the world to display and sell their work. Union Square is a kind of peculiar outdoor exhibition, featuring a collection of interesting, genuine artists on its sidewalks. The lack of glamour in Union Square’s quasi-gallery creates a more personal atmosphere: as a viewer, you’re directly confronted with the artist and their passion for their career.
Although it holds no champagne reception, it is clear that Union Square is home to a lot of talented young minds, like artist Kader Boly. One of the first artists whose work you see as you exit the subway, his large canvases and quiet presence draw you in. Growing up in Burkina Faso, his career as an artist began humbly. “I started painting when I was really young… where I grew up, it’s kind of desert, so I started drawing on sand and then on paper,” Boly said. Animal forms swim around on his strips of canvas in a raw composition that seems to combine the techniques of the primitive cave paintings of Lascaux with the haphazard feeling of Pollock. His justification for this subject matter is uncomplicated. “I liked the landscape so much that I wanted to put it in a place where it doesn’t move,” he said, without a trace of contrived art babble.
There is something simple and honest about these artists’ attitudes toward their work that is sometimes lost in contemporary art. On why he started painting, Boubakary Konseimbo, a painter from West Africa and a friend of Boly, shrugged as if it were obvious. “I like to paint because it makes me feel good,” he said. “It’s the one way I can express myself … for me. Art is free.” Konseimbo doesn’t like to title his paintings, and was hesitant to give me a price for his work. He frowned first, considering, then said, “No, it’s no price. It could be $1000, $500, or sometimes,” he paused to grin, “free!”
Konseimbo’s relaxed mentality is an example of what’s special about these Union Square artists. Although it is easy to group artists who sell their work on the street with caricaturists or aggressive vendors pushing “signed” Jonas Brothers photos, these people are different. They don’t work purely for money, but have a real dedication to their craft.
This lack of commercialism does create a space in Union Square for strange, funny characters, but even these more eccentric personalities have an attitude toward art that is refreshing. Wally Zaelor, from Thailand, is all smiles and broken English. On his table lay an array of acrylic paintings composed of strange, fish-like designs. “I didn’t study art, I do designs in Thailand for jade [jewelry],” he said, showing off his own jade necklace. “But here, I paint art! I paint my own philosophy, something in your hidden conscious,” said Zaelor, beaming. His enthusiastic explanation for each of his pieces is irresistible.
Perhaps Union Square artists, like Zaelor, appear so charmingly genuine because of their passion. There’s nothing glamorous about setting up camp for the day in bad weather, perhaps to spend hours without making a sale, but many of these artists accept that reality and remain. They choose art over comfort.
“I used to be a reporter for a newspaper,” said Michelle Han, a Union Square artist and graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. “But I’ve always been an artist, from when I was a kid, and after I left my job at the newspaper I took a class in printmaking and that’s how I fell back into art,” she said. “My goal is to be able to make my living as an artist.”
Throw a stone in New York and it’s guaranteed to hit a whitewashed brick wall and a party of hip 20-somethings fawning over this year’s Banksy. The art world is so fascinating to watch because it is constantly changing, but when sharks float in formaldehyde, and gold statues of Kate Moss are lauded as art, a person can wonder what art today is all about. A visit to Union Square reminds them. “This, this is happiness,” said Wally Zaelor, gesturing to one of his Picasso-esque geometric paintings. It’s difficult not to agree.