Visitors can take a break from the maelstrom of Midtown Manhattan in Ahae exhibit in Grand Central (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
VIBRANCY AND SERENITY
Grand Central Terminal
Vanderbilt Hall
Through October 22, free
www.ahae.com
www.grandcentralterminal.com
Identified as an “inventor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, martial artist, painter, sculptor, poet, and photographer” in a pamphlet handout for his exhibition “Through My Window: Vibrancy and Serenity,” the Korean artist known only as Ahae has taken more than a million pictures from a window in his studio over the past two years. Several dozen of his works are on view through October 22 in Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall, offering commuters and other travelers time to step away from the daily grind and relax among shots of nature amid the maelstrom of Midtown Manhattan. Ahae captures colorful images of the organic world from his solitary spot, averaging between two and four thousand photographs every day, focusing on numerous birds, water deer, and the changing seasons, without any digital manipulation. An avid conservationist, Ahae has included some text with the exhibition: “If you could gather together all the froth and champagne bubbles that have flowed so abundantly at moments of celebration in the course of human history, it would be nothing compared with this sight, this tranquil eruption of white clouds, surging up vibrantly and spreading widely over the hills and beyond,” he writes, referring to the exhibition’s gorgeous large-scale photograph of a snow-covered landscape. A bench in front of the picture encourages people to sit down and contemplate its beauty as a soft soundtrack plays, an unusual experience in one of the world’s most famously busy places. “Would that human thoughts / In disarray, so troubled and confused,” Ahae adds, “Might also rest like gentle snow / In hushed serenity.”