Jim Dow in the food court at Grand Central Terminal

In a recent mad dash through Grand Central to catch a train, I swung through one of the central seating areas of the food court on the lower level and saw some images that looked awfully familiar. Upon closer inspection, they were indeed the works of Jim Dow, printed on large photographic transparencies and displayed on the lightboxes usually reserved for ads. It was certainly an unexpected surprise to find a fine art photography exhibit in this venue.

Selections from this body of work (entitled American Studies) were on view at Janet Borden last summer (review here), so I'll forgo repeating a full discussion here. There are a total of 20 lightboxes on display (2 are duplicates on both sides of the seating area with explanatory text), 12 of which are bordered by bright colors (3 each in orange, blue, yellow and green). The show edits down to just food related subject matter: drive-ins, snack bars, food trucks, roadside restaurants and classic American signage of burgers and ice cream. The bright colors and intense neon in many of the images really pop when backlit.

Apparently the show will be up until November, so make sure to take a look between your rushed bites of a sandwich or slice.