22-Karat gold leaf

September 12, 1996 - December 1996

at the Delancey Street entrance of
the Williamsburg Bridge

Chris Doyle's Commutable responds to one of the most prevalent historical functions of public art--the creation of monuments that depict political leaders and war heroes. These individual monuments are raised upon pedestals and scattered around our public parks and plazas, and are occasionally, like the busts of ancient Egyptian kings, gilded with a layer of gold leaf. For Commutable, Doyle and a team of 20 assistants applied a layer of 22-karat gold leaf onto each step of the Delancey Street entrance of the Williamsburg Bridge. The gilding of the well-worn, well-used staircase transformed the character of these steps. "While evocative of the aspirations of past immigrant populations on both sides of the bridge," wrote Doyle upon completing the project, "the gold is used in an ephemeral way, in time worn away by the foot traffic of the daily commute. Made with the materials of urban monumentality, the work is integrated into the daily experience of the pedestrians and cyclists who use the bridge."

Artist Bio
Chris Doyle was born in Pennsylvania in 1959. He received his BA from Boston College (1981) and his Masters of Architecture from Harvard University (1985). His first solo gallery exhibition, In Private, was presented at Jessica Murray Projects (2002). His public art projects include Motor Home at The Queens Museum of Art, New York; LEAP in Columbus Circle, New York; Flock at the Socrates Sculpture Park, New York; and What I See When I Look At You at The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor. He has also been included in exhibitions at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; Sculpture Center, New York; Real Art Ways, Hartford; Galerie J. Fragnera, Prague; and PARK4DTV, Amsterdam. Doyle lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Sponsorship
Commutable was a project of In the Public Realm, a series of site-specific proposals and projects by emerging New York artists, organized by the Public Art Fund. It was also made possible through the support and cooperation of the New York City Department of Transportation.

In the Public Realm 1995 was supported with public funds from the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs' Challenge Grant Initiative, the National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, The Silverweed Foundation and the Heathcote Art Foundation.

Location
Commutable was located at the Delancey Street entrance of the Williamsburg Bridge, in Manhattan.