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Metro Features Koreatown on New Poster by Local Artist
A new poster celebrating Koreatown -- one of many destinations customers can travel to via Metro -- will be on display on Metro buses and rail cars through May 5, 2009. Commissioned by Metro Art, the new poster is by local artist Kyungmi Shin. As seen through the eyes of Shin, Koreatown is depicted as a photo collage of bustling commerce with storefronts, malls, street life and urban signage that collectively provides a one day snapshot of this distinct community. “I wanted to recreate the feeling of enchantment upon encountering the density of signage for the multitudes of stores and restaurants as you experience the streets in Koreatown; like a mini Korea, a trip back to my native country” said Shin. “The image is read from right to left as one would read traditional Korean books and transforms from daytime to nighttime. I love collage as a medium because it creates a heightened narrative. This collage creates the sense of intense, vibrant and complex neighborhood that dynamically changes, grows and is there to be explored.” Kyungmi Shin has exhibited her artworks nationally and internationally including the Santa Monica 18th Street Arts Complex; LAX Airport Terminal 3; Vox Populi in Philadelphia PA; Kausaustralis in Rotterdam, Netherlands and Seoul Arts Center, Korea. Shin received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. In the tradition of celebrating transportation through colorful travel destination posters, Metro commissions a diverse range of Los Angeles artists to create original artworks for the Metro Neighborhoods poster series. The purpose of the series is to express the distinctive character of neighborhoods and destinations served by Metro. The posters are displayed throughout the Metro system, including on trains and buses and in stations and various other locations. The limited edition posters are available for purchase at the Metro Store, metro.net/metrostore. The Koreatown poster is the 18th in a series of neighborhood posters commissioned by Metro Art. Posters in the series have garnered a Print Magazine Regional Design Annual Excellence Award, a Tranny Merit Award, a “Fresh” Illustrator Award from Illustrations Magazine Annual and a Los Angeles Society of Illustrators Silver Medal as well as a Society of Environmental Graphic Design Award. Metro seeks to change public perception about transit and to transform the customer’s experience through excellence in art and design. Central to this objective, Metro Creative Services includes the agency’s in-house design studio (which creates Metro’s brand communications) and the agency’s art and customer environments programs (which commission wide-ranging projects by visual artists and promote overall design quality of customer environments). From intelligently designed, user-friendly customer information, engaging and effective advertising and a newly designed fleet of buses and trains to large scale site-specific artworks by world-class artists and live poetry readings, Metro employs art and design to create a sense of place, engage transit riders, and improve the quality of life throughout Los Angeles County. For more information about Metro’s art programs and it’s free docent guided tours, visit metro.net/art or call 213/922-4ART. Metro-019 Editors Note: “Metro” should be used when referring to this agency. Copyright © 2008, LACMTA | Privacy Policy |
