Bushwick residents come to life in George Bates’ "Generation Dynamica" at the Central Avenue station. Consisting of 20 stainless steel panels in the station’s platform windscreens, the work depicts larger characters encompassing smaller figures in silhouette, referencing the many populations who make the community their home. The scale of figures within figures causes the viewer’s the eye to keep moving across the panels, but what becomes quickly apparent is that all are connected. 

"Generation Dynamica" seeks to show how communities are in flux and are shaped by the contributions and aspirations of its individual members and their personal histories. Bates includes elements from the area’s social history and waves of immigration, from Germany and Central America, and many places in between. The diversity of musical sounds is also represented in the artwork, and is further evidence of the rich cultural traditions–new and emerging–that the artist wanted to convey. 

The artwork is fabricated in waterjet cut stainless steel by KC Fabrications. Bates spent many years as a resident of the community served by the station. His inventive use of line and form gives personality to the dozens of figures showcased in the artwork. The figures span age groups and demographics, and each are engaged in activity that represents characteristics about their lives. Together they represent a richly dynamic neighborhood which the artwork panels represent in keenly observed detail. 

After many years living in New York, George Bates is now a New Jersey-based artist. His work has been exhibited at the Laguna Art Museum in California, and in a variety of group shows worldwide. He exhibited as a solo show of his sketchbooks in Munich, Germany, and has been privately commissioned by collectors. Bates' public art projects are a direct outgrowth of his interest in exploring the plastic nature of systems, communities, complexities, aesthetics, and the realities and satisfactions of societal living in relation to art.