20 Av (D)

Kaleidoscope

Odili Donald Odita
“Kaleidoscope” (2012) by Odili Donald Odita at NYCT 20 Av Station.
“Kaleidoscope” (2012) by Odili Donald Odita at NYCT 20 Av Station. Photo: Karen Mauch

About the Project

"Kaleidoscope," created by Odili Donald Odita, is a laminated glass installation spanning throughout the elevated station's platforms, which cross the commercial street and neighborhood hub of 20th Avenue. 

Odita is known for creating site-specific wall paintings and installations that use abstract color patterns as a personal response to, and visual memory of, the specific site. Odita shares his perceptions of the Bensonhurst neighborhood in his choice of color and patterns in the artwork. He was particularly aware of the changes in this neighborhood since the 1990s, and its parallels to the evolution of communities in general. Impressions of the neighborhood became his major inspiration in the design and the color palette for "Kaleidoscope." 

Composed of forty panels of vibrant color patterns in an invigorating diagonal movement, the formation of bold to pastel colors in "Kaleidoscope" exists similarly to the way that color exists in quilts, creating patterns and visual interest while symbolizing the many individual elements it takes to compose a unified whole, in this case, a community. Odita also sought to have the work represent the vitality and diversity within the neighborhood’s businesses. "Kaleidoscope" represents the vitality of its location at the 20 Av station, and like the subway itself, resonates throughout the city. 

About the Artist

Odili Donald Odita was born in Nigeria and raised in the American Midwest. He received a BFA with Distinction, Excellence in the Arts Award, from Ohio State University and an MFA from Bennington College. Odita is an abstract painter whose work explores color and is heavily inspired by a sense of dual identity, combining aspects of Western modernity with African culture. Much of his color selection is based on personal memories and created intuitively by hand-mixing, so that no two shades are ever repeated. Odita has received several large-scale public art commissions, including at the Newark Museum, Mural Arts Philadelphia, Yale University, and the United States Mission to the United Nations, New York.