felipe pantone’s ‘OPTICHROMIE for jersey city’ marks his largest gradient mural to date

Felipe Pantone reveals optichromie for jersey city

Felipe Pantone’s new monumental, gradient public artwork ‘OPTICHROMIE for Jersey City’ marks the Argentine-Spanish artist’s return to the US, nearly one year since his last mural in Ohio. Located on the corner of Summit and Magnolia Avenue in Jersey City, his digitized-looking artwork – flanked with geometric patterns in monochrome, gradients, and vibrant colors, his signature oeuvre – colors the New York skyline, drawing a contrast between the backdrops hushed palettes and his vibrant, bold fare.

images courtesy of Felipe Pantone

Felipe Pantone’s new artwork is his largest to date

Felipe Pantone’s OPTICHROMIE for Jersey City extends over the 25 floors of the residential building by Urby, making it the largest artwork and mural the artist has ever worked on. From afar, his digitizing style in art flares up as strips of bold colors make up the jagged lines, overlapping the TV-static corners of the canvas and the blurry-looking gradient pixels in the background. The creation of OPTICHROMIE for Jersey City involved meticulous planning and team coordination as Felipe Pantone and his five collaborators carefully mapped out the intricate designs and paints for the building facade.

over 170 gallons of paint used for optichromie for jersey city

Felipe Pantone and his small team took 25 days to paint his largest artwork and mural to date on a 25-story building. During this period, they endured rain, braved the cold, experienced two earthquakes while they were on the lift, and got to see and stay during the day of the solar eclipse. They used two swing stages, each nine meters long, to finish OPTICHROMIE for Jersey City on a wall that measures 70 x 20 meters, or 1400m2 – 4600 square feet. They lugged around over 170 gallons of paint, dipping their rollers and painting the wall one design at a time, and pulled out their airless sprayer for the gradients.

In an Instagram post, Feliper Pantone admits that the OPTICHROMIE for Jersey City’s concept was conceived even before the construction of the residential building. He also adds that he might think twice about accepting another commission after working on his largest artwork and mural to date. ‘It’s been an ultra-physical effort (I still have sore muscles) but also mental, for both me and my team. Enduring so many days in front of the same project with all the challenges it entails has been tough, and I’m very proud of them,’ he writes in his post. ‘Now that I see it finished, I think it’s totally worth it. You never regret being brave!’

Felipe Pantone’s new artwork is located on the corner of Summit and Magnolia Avenue in Jersey City