Mayor's Office of Arts + Culture features Jamaica Plain artist Brian Rosa in The Mayor's Gallery

The Mayor's Office of Arts + Culture will feature an exhibition of photographs by artist Brian Rosa of Jamaica Plain in The Mayor’s Gallery on the fifth floor at Boston City Hall. The exhibition will be on display October 1 to November 17, 2014. 

Brian Rosa (http://brianrosa.net) is an artist and urban researcher based in Jamaica Plain, and in Brooklyn, New York. An urban planner and geographer by training, he is an Assistant Professor of Urban Studies at the City University of New York. Rosa's photographic work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. as well as in Mexico, Great Britain, and Hong Kong and has been featured in the British Journal of Photography, Triple Canopy, Metropolis, and on NPR. He is one half of the creative studio “Site Unseen,” a collaboration with artist Adam Ryder, most recently featured at the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Wendover, Utah. Rosa was a 2013 Artist Fellow with the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

“My CONVEY series draws from photographs made in Mexico as well New York City, Pittsburgh, Berlin, Hong Kong, Madrid, and throughout England,” says Rosa. “In this series, I frame the often inadvertent—and sometimes dissonant—tensions between advertising semiotics and surrounding cityscapes. In particular, I am drawn to cities’ omnipresent billboards and hoarding—the tall walls constructed to block views and access to construction sites. Since real estate advertising tends to sell aspirational images of the future, while billboards often emphasize lifestyle ambitions, these images and texts serve as a hazy mirror in which contemporary society may be reflected. Or, at the very least, what we are told that we should desire by those who have something to sell.”

“I’m proud to utilize City Hall to exhibit artists from across Boston’s neighborhoods, helping both city employees and visitors to Boston City Hall see some of the creative and artistic work that our city is so well-known for,” says Mayor Walsh. “I hope everyone in Boston can take some time to come in and experience the work exhibited in City Hall’s three art galleries.” 

The Galleries at Boston City Hall are open to the public at no charge. Boston City Hall is accessible by MBTA via State Street (Orange and Blue lines) and Park Street (Green and Red lines). For additional information, call 617-635-3245, or visit http://www.cityofboston.gov/arts.