Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope, created by Odili Donald Odita, is a laminated glass installation
spanning throughout the elevated station platforms, which cross the
commercial street and neighborhood hub of 20th Avenue on the D Line at
the 20th Avenue station in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

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Odita is known for creating site-specific wall painting and installations that
use abstract color patterns as a personal response to and visual memory
of the specific site. Odita shares his percpetions of the Bensonhurst
neighborhood in his choice of color and patterns in the artwork. He was
particularly aware of the changes in this neighborhood since the 1990s and
its parallels to the evolution of communities in general. Impressions of the
neighborhood became his major inspiration in the design and the color
palette for Kaleidoscope.

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Composed of forty panels of vibrant color patterns in an invigorating
diagonal movement, the formation of bold to pastel colors in Kaleidoscope
exists similarly to the way that color exists in quilts, creating patterns and
visual interest while symbolizing the many individual elements it takes to
compose a unified whole, in this case, a community. Odita also sought to
have the work represent the vitality and diversity within the neighborhood’s
businesses. Kaleidoscope represents the vitality of its location at the 20th
Avenue subway, and like the subway itself, resonates throughout the City.
As the artist explains, “Kaleidoscope is a work wanting to describe all the
life, energy, and movement that can be found at the 20thAvenue subway
location, and like the subway itself, I want this work to travel in sound, body
and spirit to all the boroughs of New York City.”

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