Brooklyn’s newest pool was once a beautiful relic.
Artist Gina Pollack broke into the dilapidated McCarren Park Pool in fall 2009, just before the city plunged $50-million into converting the concrete structure into a state-of-the-art recreation center, and snapped images of the decaying pool at sunset.
Her new work, “Where They Swam: Other Relics” will be on display for a month at Greenpoint Avenue’s The One Well gallery starting this weekend, three weeks before the pool opens to the public.
She’d never been inside the pool for the temporary McCarren Pool Party concert series, but had passed by the site every day and thought the architecture was beautiful.
“I was most interested in the way the surfaces had reacted to being left there for so long, especially the surface of the pool,” she said. “It was painted an aquamarine color, cracked, and deteriorated. There was a puddle that resulted from the rainwater and there were random objects floating in there. The way that the red and blue colors reacted in the lighting, during the sunset, are pretty amazing.”
Pollack, a lap swimmer, can’t wait to jump into the new pool this summer. She hopes it becomes a neighborhood destination.
“Where They Swam: Other Relics: Photography by Gina Pollack” at the One Well [165 Greenpoint Ave., between Manhattan Avenue and McGuinness Boulevard in Greenpoint (347) 889–6792. www.theonewell.com] Opens June 8, 7–10 pm.
Reach reporter Aaron Short at ashort@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2547.
