The Eldridge Garden mural is a welcome sign for the arrival of Spring and Summer, as well as an homage to New York City’s magnificence. The arrangement of flowers transforms the urban, concrete corner of Broome and Eldridge into a colorful garden. On bright days, the painted flowers reflect upon every surface, bouncing off storefront windows and parked cars in the street. The Eldridge Garden holds a personal significance to the artist, Jose Aurelio Baez, as he recalls his own memories of the warm months in New York. Jose Aurelio Baez (b.1986, Bronx, NY) is a mixed-media painter, collage, and mural artist. His approach to creating art combines his traditional training, as an undergrad at Carnegie Mellon, with a self-taught process that he has refined since graduating, in 2009. Inspired by a bouquet from a local flower shop, Baez’s arrangement of roses, peonies, red cosmos, and star-gazers embody the diversity of urban culture. The imagery in Baez’s art is often based on original photography by the artist (or someone close to him), as well as carefully-sourced photographs that he digitally edits and collages. Heavily influenced by his identity as a New Yorker, his mixed media paintings utilize found and repurposed materials to create an archive of the people, culture, and environments that the artist surrounds himself with. 

As the weather warms, families emerge from their homes, just as fresh plants photosynthesize. Joy and excitement fill the air through the smells and sounds of street fairs and block parties. “The Eldridge Garden (Revival)” is a visual symphony that celebrates the unique beauty of New York City. The layered details in Jose Aurelio Baez’s paintings also serve as a reminder of the physical presence of the work to the viewer. When painting, the artist uses various tools that pull from his experiences, including graffiti inks, spray paint and adhesives, and traditional drawing and painting mediums. Jose builds an intimate conversation between the viewer and the subject of his work. His artwork is an honest contemplation of the fragility of life, creating a perspective that allows the viewer to see the world through his own visual perspective.

Jose Baez’s art has been shown nationally in galleries and in several online and print publications. His latest exhibitions include the “Group Seven” show at Woodward Gallery and a published feature in Post Road Magazine for his mural work in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Come visit Baez’s “The Eldridge Garden (Revival)” Mural, this Spring and Summer, at the Woodward Gallery Project Space.