The Mural on 42nd Street

This week, we checked out the prolific graffiti artist, Sofia Maldonado’s 42nd Street Mural. Her art has been displayed in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and even in New York, whether it be in a gallery or even a mural on a building. She has also had her work published in Graffiti World, a book collecting some of the world’s best graf artists. Even with those accomplishments under her belt, she’s out for fame yet again, this time looking to bring a new piece to 40-deuce.

The 42nd Street Mural has been an on-going project for about two and a half weeks, a veritable labor of love; she has been working in 10 hour shifts daily. Sofia canvassed her art on pieces of plywood cut-outs that are to be bound together to make a 92-foot marvel! She had the project prepared for preview in her workspace at the Port Authority. It is due to be displayed on the outdoor construction fence at 219 42nd street between 7th and 8th avenues on the final week of February.

Usually, her work relates to Latina female aesthetics, says Sofia. For this specific project, she wanted to portray the real New York that tourists don’t see everyday.She wanted to show the tough female attitude of females that you would usually see in urban neighborhoods like Harlem and the Bronx. The paintings are of multi-cultural women, that Sofia describes as “a little bit of everything”.

“It will be going up on 42nd street in the middle of February for 2 months,” she says, “I’ll give it 2 days to survive (laughter), but that’s apart of everyday art”, she laughs. Be sure to look out for Sofia’s mural on 42nd street. The project was sponsored by the Times Square Alliance/Cuban Artist Fund, the Rockefeller foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

You can find more from this artist at her official website and blog. Her blog contains videos of the day by day process of her work on the mural.

Photos by Demilade