FRANKLIN ALLEY
About Joe Iurato
Joe Iurato is a multidisciplinary artist whose works are built on a foundation of stencils and aerosol. Falling somewhere in between simplistic and photorealistic, his multi-layer stencils offer a distinctly clean and illustrative aesthetic. While Iurato’s murals have adorned neighborhoods along the east coast United States for years, he’s more recently become noted for the unique placement and photography of miniature painted wood cutouts in public spaces. Utilizing the outdoor environment to create site-specific installations, Iurato creates windows into a narrative formed by personal experiences. Each individual work of art highlights the potential for interaction and storytelling within public space and transforms common land/cityscapes into carefully crafted scenes. Before leaving each installation behind, he documents it with a photograph. The photographs offer specific and intentional viewpoints of the artwork in relation to its surroundings, manipulating our perception of scale and dimensionality.
Joe's process in Troy
For over a year, Joe traveled to Troy to learn about Troy. The Hart Cluett Museum worked with Joe to help him understand the history of the alley and area, from its industrial uses to its residents. Then, Joe met with the Boys and Girls Club over several sessions, who were the inspiration for the paper airplanes seen throughout the project. Joe creates characters that are composites of the stories he heard. Some refer to Troy’s industrial past, such as an iron worker, others refer to our history of newspapers, and others refer to retail stores that once existed here. Most refer to the children he met who represent the future of Troy.
The Franklin Alley Mural project was funded by: New York State Council on the Arts, Regional Economic Development Council; Ellie Kittle Ingalsbe; Upstate Coalition for a Fairgame; Howard & Bush Foundation; The Massry Charitable Foundation; MVP Health Care; The O’Bryan Family Foundation; The Troy Redevelopment Foundation; The Troy Savings Bank Charitable Foundation & generous Members of our Community
