For the latest edition of Format Picks, our monthly contest, we asked artists to submit images themed around the city. We saw urban space across many continents interpreted in hundreds of unique ways.
The cities shown in the winning images are Hong Kong and New York. Amritha Vadi won the Audience Choice award with the most votes on her red-hued portrait of Hong Kong at night, and Patricio Jose Morocho was selected by us for his thoughtful depiction of New York’s El Barrio. Both artists will receive a $250 grant to support their creative work.
Format Picks is an ongoing project in which we ask artists to submit work around a different monthly theme for a chance to win a prize and publication in the magazine. Entry is always free and open to anyone. Last month, our winners were Guanyu Xu and Andrew Kalashnikov, who interpreted the theme of self portraiture in striking and original ways.
This month, our theme for Format Picks is the environment. Submit your work here. And be sure to check back throughout the month to vote on the latest entries.
Patricio Jose Morocho
About the artist:
“I am an artist based in New York City. My work explores identity. Recently this has been specific to Latinx identity, gender, and masculinity. I am obsessed with color, clothing, location, and people, and how these subjects can evoke certain emotions and ideas when composed in specific scenarios.”
About the work:
“The city captured is New York City. However, it does not relate to the greater idea of New York City. It was taken in El Barrio. I wasn’t born in the United States, but when I immigrated to New York City much of my life was spent in the few blocks covering El Barrio. The photograph captures Paola through a broken plastic window pane near a supermarket by the Lexington Avenue 110 Street Station. What encompasses her head are curves of graffiti and shattered plastic.
“I spent days of months of years passing by this specific spot enamored with its colors and tags. Viewing the area through the painted, tainted, loved, and abused plastic glass is nostalgic and intimate. I wanted to expose the undisturbed and often ignored sublimity of street art and city decay. They have existed for years, perhaps decades, and passed through the glance of generations of Latinxs. The colors blue and red relate to the Puerto Rican heritage of the neighborhood, but also to the blue and red of the Ecuadorian flag, under whose context I was raised in the city.”
Amritha Vadi
About the artist:
“I am a Leeds Arts University Graphic Design student, who recently took part in a Student Exchange in Hong Kong.”
About the work:
“Hong Kong to me is a city of lights, neon lights to be exact. Everywhere you turn there are neon lights that fill the street with vibrant colours. This piece encapsulates the vibrancy of the city that I was so lucky to explore during my student exchange.”
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