Art that speaks the 'Language' of sanitation

All Street Gallery has an interesting-sounding new show starting tomorrow that features the work of interdisciplinary artist sTo Len, who was the 2021-2022 Public Artist in Residence for the NYC Department of Sanitation. (This CBS feature has more about his work with the DSNY.)

Here's what to expect at the show, titled "Sign Language" ...

During his residency, Len started the Office of In Visibility, an art project that bears witness to the unseen labor of sanitation and its extensive role in New Yorkers' lives. He has been using this as a platform to research and re-contextualize the department's archival material from film and video to printmaking and photography. 

For this exhibition, Len focuses on his work revitalizing an old sanitation screen printing shop in Woodside, Queens, that housed hand-printed street signs, trucks, and posters dating from the 1960s. 

Reusing the old equipment and leftover designs, Len has created a series of mono prints on paper, aluminum, and wood that remix old DSNY slogans and symbols with his own marbling techniques. The results are bold, messy, and psychedelic updates to the originals with messages that remain relevant and speak to on-going sanitation issues such as illegal dumping and littering. 

The opening reception is tomorrow (Saturday!) evening from 6-9 at the gallery, 77 E. Third St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue (in the former HA HQ).