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The City’s Chaotic Energy Is This Harlem Artist’s Muse

 Visual Artist Julia Kito Kirtley shows some of her paintings in the lobby of Harlem School for the Arts.
Visual Artist Julia Kito Kirtley shows some of her paintings in the lobby of Harlem School for the Arts.
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DNAinfo/Dartunorro Clark

HARLEM — When you walk into the lobby of Harlem School of the Arts, it hits you.

Swift splashes of color, glimmering skylines and an almost palpable energy.

It’s an ode to New York City painted onto several canvasses by visual artist Julia Kito Kirtley, who who is a “teaching artist” at the school.

The exhibit is titled “I Hear Music in The Streets” and the exhibit is essentially a love letter to the city.

Kirtley spent years in the underground dance club scene in the city and got much of her inspiration from that experience. 

She said she paints to the sounds of house and hip-hop music and the movement of the dancers surrounding her to capture the pulse, rhythm and grit of the city.

“When you step back and see the city you see it twinkling,” she said. 

She folded that thought into many of her paintings, one of which has buildings built from shards of mirrors. Other pieces are interactive — such as spinning vinyl records splattered with paint — and some are more solemn.

A piece titled “The Towers,” for example, is an homage to the Twin Towers.

The towers are the focal point of the busy city background in the piece, which is painted with glow in the dark paint and show that energy still remains even when darkness falls.

“It’s a tribute to an energy that still resonates,” she said. “Once the lights go out something is still happening.”   

“I Hear Music in the Streets” is currently open to the public now until August 27th at the Harlem School of the Arts, located at 645 St Nicholas Ave. Kirtley will have a reception  July 21 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Harlem School of the Arts. The reception will include a live painting, a DJ, dancers and a talk with the artist.