Θραύσμα Σπουδής για τις Πύλες της Times Square

Chryssa combines drawing with three‑dimensional elements: stainless‑steel outlines, Plexiglas panels, and cast‑aluminium pieces that echo billboard surfaces. Neon tubes are incorporated to reference actual street lighting. The surface is marked with lines and shadows that render the letters appear bent or fractured, while the mixed media construction emphasizes the tactile quality of commercial signage.

After a brief stay in San Francisco in 1954, Chryssa moved to New York, where she immersed herself in the visual language of advertising. Between 1964 and 1966 she devoted intensive studio work to “The Gates of Times Square,” producing a series of studies, including this A‑shaped drawing. The piece is now held by the Museum of Ethnography, which displays it alongside related works from the same period.

During the early 1960s Chryssa turned from traditional painting to the exploration of letters drawn from the Latin alphabet, inspired by newspaper headlines, storefront names and neon billboards. Her practice reflects the broader Pop‑Art interest in mass‑media imagery, yet she focuses on the materiality of signage, treating letters as sculptural objects rather than mere symbols.