On Sept. 11, hundreds of pedestrians gathered at Exchange Place to stare in disbelief at the smoke engulfing the space where the Twin Towers once stood. Nearly three months later, the Fleet Bank branch at Exchange Place is housing a collection of art devoted to that tragic view.
Curated by Peter Zirnis, vice president of the Pro-Arts organization in Jersey City, the exhibit includes sculptures, paintings, and photographs from 19 local artists. Entitled "Aftershock: Jersey City’s Response to 9/11," the various works express the rage and confusion American culture endured in the wake of the attacks.
"I wanted pieces that were a reaction to the World Trade Center bombing," Zirnis said. "I was more interested in how artists were dealing with the events."
With the image of the Twin Towers and the space it occupied being the predominant focus of most pieces, themes of destruction, remembrance, and hope line the walls of the bank at One Exchange Place.
In a painting by Matt Johnson called "Diptych," two canvases resembling the shape of the Twin Towers stand over 12 feet. On the canvas, however, Johnson paints the buildings around the former Twin Towers, creating the view that has existed ever since.
Approaching the tragedy with the sense of hope that followed the initial period of mourning, Joe Chirchirillo resurrected the image of the Twin Towers in a sculpture made out of mud. Grass is patted alongside the two towers, and continues to grow as Chirchirillo sprays it with water and gives it light.
"It’s been growing a lot everyday," Chirchirillo said. "I see it as a renewal piece. Something falls down and something grows out of it."
Local photographer Leon Yost, who spent three decades using the Twin Towers as a subject in his work, contributed a nighttime view of the Twin Towers. The lights from the windows, the glistening blue river, and the full moon hanging close by give the photograph a dream-like quality.
"This one I put in because it’s a photograph of a memory," Yost said. "It’s how I see the towers in my subconscious."
Yost also contributed pieces to another exhibit on the fourth floor of the main branch of the Jersey City library. However, the other exhibit, "WTC: A History in Photographs," approached the Twin Towers with a documentary perspective, Yost said. "This one is more interpretative, more introspective," he added.
Other works avoided the image of the Twin Towers and concentrated on the reaction to the events and the national mood that followed. Taking the words "terror," "righteousness," and "purification," local photographer Robert Kosinski used his technique of manipulating digital self-portraits to express the meanings of these words he heard so frequently used in the media during the weeks following the attacks.
These pieces depend partly on Kosinski’s ability to convey an emotion through facial expressions, and partly on his ability to manipulate the image and frame it. After the images are printed in color, Kosinski adds some extra touches with artistic tools like acrylic paint. Then he tears the paper around the image and pastes it onto a another frame. The effect allows the photograph to float in a field rather than be boxed in the classical rectangular frame, Kosinski said.
"I was depressed for days afterwards," Kosinski said. "I couldn’t do anything." As time passed, he began to think of a way to express his morbid feelings through his work. "I had worked on this exhibit after hearing these words over and over again. What does terror look like in a human face?"
Whether people come to the bank on business or specifically for the exhibit, the works catch their eyes. As Jersey City resident Johnny Young waits on line, he takes a solid look at Chirchirillo’s grass-and-mud rendition of the towers. "It just brings back the whole memory of what happened," Young said. "It’s just sad."
A wine and cheese reception on Thursday formally opened the exhibit, inviting the public to view the art and speak to the artists. The exhibit can be viewed Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Fleet Bank on One Exchange Place, near the waterfront.