All Photos By Gail

It’s hard to believe that Eduardo Kobra’s Mount Rushmore of Art mural has been up for five months already, and it took me that long to photograph it in its finished state; but that what I finally had the chance to do on Easter Sunday, when I went for walk on the High Line.

Located at 10th Avenue and 22nd Street, directly above the often-shuttered-and-reopened Empire Diner, I happened to be in that neighborhood on November 3rd, 2018, while Kobra and his team worked on monumental piece, detailing the likenesses of four contemporary art legends: Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. I was able to take a few photos of the mural as a work-in-progress on the afternoon, so I thought it would be fun to share them alongside photos of the completed mural, which takes its name from the monument located in South Dakota, swapping out US Presidents for North American Artists.

Finishing touches are added to the face of Keith Haring (1958 – 1990). Frida Kahlo’s beautiful face seems to be completed at this point. She lived from 1907 to 1954.

Kobra works on the face of Andy Warhol (1928 – 1987). The Dollar Sign visible under Warhol’s likeness, which is a motif from his artworks, has been replaced in the finished mural by a dinosaur wearing crown: an image popularized by Basquiat, who was a disciple of Warhol.

This mural was completed in  collaboration with HG Contemporary Gallery in NYC.