Description: During the COVID-19 lockdown, SoHo experienced an accelerated evolution of the streetscape. First the streets emptied, then they burst at the seams with Black Lives Matter and equal rights protesters. The protests were peaceful and powerful. 
Following the protests were riots; glass scattered across the street, police cars set on fire, high-end shop windows smashed. In reaction they built a fortress; empty shops boarded up, doors bolted, chains linked. Stripped back, the shop fronts became a canvas and the streetscape a gallery. The boards intended as a barricade became a surface for art, expression, and graffiti with a powerful message.  Some people wrote about it, others created music or song. I painted it. It was my way of processing what was happening. 
 
'96 SoHo’ hangs nicely with ‘5th Avenue’ as a continuation of the story. 
 
Medium: Watercolour on Arches Paper