1717 WEBSTER, Oakland
Rob Ley, Street Scene, 2019. Painted aluminum, polished stainless steel. Oakland, CA.
It was a pleasure for Chandra Cerrito / Art Advisors to facilitate the artist selection, conceptual design, city approval, construction coordination, and installation of a monumental public artwork by artist Rob Ley. Located at a residential tower on Webster Street in Oakland, Street Scene is a painted aluminum relief sculpture mounted on two sections of the building façade. The work is over 17 feet tall, with one section 87 feet wide and the other 16.5 feet wide. The significant scale and location of the artwork along the second and third stories allows for an engaging experience for pedestrians as well as those traveling by car, bus, or bicycle.
The artwork acts as a faceted color relief and mirror of its environment. It is comprised of hundreds of bent aluminum metal panels—blue, green, gray, and mirror-polished triangular and diamond shaped elements—that are composed into a subtle terrain and framed by the architectural elements of the building. Due to the scattered arrangement and varying angles of the reflective components, at any given time this dynamic artwork will reflect small moments of the sky, the surrounding foliage along the street, and the varied activity below.
Rob Ley, Street Scene. Image credit: Israel Valencia.