Spanning the full west side of the 10th Avenue bridge in Mount Vernon, artwork by Mark Fox incorporates stylized, decorative text that describes the site. The title, "40˚54’37.9”N 73˚50’33.5”W," provides the GPS coordinates for the exact center of the bridge.  

Composed of 14 dynamic waterjet cut panels, fabricated by Milgo/Bufkin, and spanning approximately 550 square feet, the artwork features densely patterned words, undulating throughout the span of the bridge and evoking a train yard of crisscrossing tracks. The text is intended to be seen as an all-over pattern, and for viewers to spot singular words and phrases, or to see full sentences over time. To create the content for the text, Fox researched the history and factual information about Mount Vernon, reflected on his own experience in the city, and undertook in-depth conversation with local historians. While not necessary to the experience of the visual artwork, the text is a playful statement from the point of view of the bridge, its place in the world and time, and its relationship to the train that runs below.  

The artist writes, "My idea for the 10th Avenue bridge in Mount Vernon was to create a work that is visually fluid and lively while engaging passersby in a game of discovery about the site of the bridge and its relationship to the city and surrounding area. The design, formed with handwritten cursive, is an original legend that includes details about Mount Vernon’s history and people as well as scientific fact about the viewer’s experience at the site. I want the legend to function as a kind of game so passersby can, quite literally, ‘read’ this bridge. For Mount Vernonites who cross frequently, my hope is that they will continue to enjoy new discoveries over time."

Mark Fox was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and received his BFA from Washington University in St. Louis and his MFA from Stanford University. Based in New York City since 2003, Fox has exhibited work in numerous solo and group shows in New York as well as Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, Miami, Cleveland, Sao Paolo, Beijing, and elsewhere. Fox’s work can be found in many public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the USB Collection, the Progressive Collection, the Cleveland Clinic Collection, and the Anderson Collection at Stanford University.