Boston City Hall’s architecture is so brutal, even the mayor wanted to demolish it. But in the soft glow of Carolyn Swiszcz’s acrylic paints, the building takes on a more flattering tone.
“It is a lightning rod for people who love it and hate it,” the New Bedford native said. “That’s what I’m interested in, that gray area … I always hated that building, but in painting it I developed a fondness for it.”
Swiszcz’s paintings are currently on display at the Steven Zevitas Gallery in the South End.
The show, which runs through Saturday, features two other famous area eyesores: the Adams Inn near Neponset Circle in Quincy and the Showcase Cinemas in Revere.
“Her project is one of aesthetic redemption,” said Zevitas. “She brings it to a fine art context and gives them new life and new meaning. Overall her project is redeeming spaces and places we overlook on a day-to-day basis.”
Swiszcz, who has lived in Minnesota for the last 20 years, also features some brutal architecture from her adopted home.
“It’s sort of turning things you don’t like into something that inspires you,” Swiszcz, 38, said. “They sort of lose their power to depress you.”
