William Wegman’s "Stationary Figures" features 11 glass mosaic panels of his famed Weimaraner portraits. Photographed with the artist’s deadpan sense of humor, the dogs take on human attributes, from wearing street clothes like a shiny raincoat or flannel shirt, to being grouped like passengers as they gaze into space or peer down the platform as if waiting for the train.

Situated in bold blocks of color, the larger-than-life mosaic dogs are bursting into space and interacting with commuters. The mosaic fabricator, Mayer of Munich, interpreted the photographs taken for this project by meticulously transforming the facial expressions, skin textures and patterns of the dogs’ vibrant attire into glass mosaic. Wegman has lived and worked in the neighborhood for decades, and together with his dogs Flo and her brother Topper, they have created images that enliven this busy station. 

Speaking about the project, Wegman said, “I wanted to create portraits of individual characters, people who you might see next to you on the platform. For these I dressed the dogs in more or less ordinary clothes, nothing too fashionable. I was very interested in the way in which photographs, even the out of focus dogs in the background of some images, could be translated into mosaic by Mayer of Munich, who skillfully turned gray stones into gray dogs.”

William Wegman is an American artist who has gained international recognition for his work in photography, painting, drawing, and video. He is best known for his ongoing artistic collaborations with his Weimaraners in various costumes and poses. Wegman’s early work focused on black and white photographs and moving images that utilized the subtlest of visual puns to convey their message. Man Ray, his first Weimaraner, became a central figure in Wegman’s early photographs and video works. Wegman became an early exponent of conceptual art, and his first works were performance based. His first photographs and films were made as a way of documenting these early ephemeral and performance-based works, which quickly became the focus of his artistic output. 

Throughout his career, Wegman worked extensively with the 20x24 Polaroid camera. He has been the subject of many solo and group exhibitions. His works are in permanent collections of museums and institutions throughout the world. Both his videos and photos have appeared in a variety of films, advertisements, books and television programs. Wegman currently lives and works in New York City.