Waiting for a train can include an unexpected encounter with a very composed dog. William Wegman’s Stationary Figures brings his Weimaraner subjects into New York’s subway, where their patient expressions fit surprisingly well among human commuters.
Man Ray and the move toward dog portraits
The 2018 story reached back to the 1970s, when Wegman adopted the Weimaraner he called Man Ray. It described the dog’s importance to his move from painting toward photography and to the developing body of clothed canine portraits.
For Stationary Figures, Flo and Topper were dressed as the people likely to encounter them: commuters. The account mentioned a flannel shirt and a shiny raincoat before explaining the handover from photographic image to Mayer of Munich’s mosaic fabrication. These details connect the artist’s longer practice with the specific public commission. The original credit identifies the work as Stationary Figures (2018), © William Wegman, commissioned by MTA Arts & Design for NYC Transit’s 23 St station.
Which station has the Wegman mosaics?
The MTA Arts & Design record places the 2018 installation at 23 St on the F/M lines. That distinction matters because New York has more than one station with 23 St in its name. The work comprises eleven glass-mosaic panels featuring Wegman’s dogs Flo and Topper.
The same record credits Mayer of Munich with fabricating the mosaics from Wegman’s photographs. The station artworks are therefore physical arrangements of glass, rather than photographs printed directly onto the wall. Small changes in tone preserve the dogs’ forms within the new medium.
Portraits that belong to a shared space
In the pictured views, the long ears, upright poses and sideways gazes carry the scene. Their seriousness leaves plenty of room for humor. A dog portrait on a station wall can feel almost like another passenger observing the wait.
The work also shows how an image changes when it enters everyday public life. People encounter it while moving, stopping or looking across a platform. Jan Is De Man and Deef Feed’s Utrecht bookcase mural turns another familiar urban surface into an invitation to pause, while ROA’s animal murals use a very different scale and mood to bring animals into the city.
More images from the 2018 feature
The commuter has both a glance and a wait
A photograph can contain gradual changes in tone; a mosaic rebuilds an image through individual pieces. From farther away those pieces join into a recognizable figure, while close inspection reveals the material surface that produces it. The shift between those readings is part of the work's appeal.
A station offers two kinds of viewing time. Someone passing can recognize the dog’s silhouette and posture in a glance; someone waiting can examine the smaller pieces of glass and their tonal transitions. The image has to work at both speeds. That makes the translation from photograph to mosaic a practical part of the public commission, as well as a change of material.
Continue with a related feature: Brussels' 2016 Flower Carpet Celebrated Belgian-Japanese Ties.
Original references and creator profiles: Mayer Of Munich; Website; Facebook; Instagram; Twitter; Website; Facebook; Instagram; Twitter.
Image credits: Stationary Figures (2018) © William Wegman, NYC Transit 23 St station. Commissioned by MTA Arts & Design
A glance or a long wait
The dogs’ composed expressions suit the setting’s ordinary pauses. Clothing supplies a human reference, while long ears and canine features keep the substitution unmistakable. The humour does not need a written punchline: the station itself provides the situation. The work’s title and precise location connect that encounter to a particular commission rather than an anonymous decorative image.
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