The 72nd Street Station
Vik Muniz

“Perfect Strangers”

Perfect Strangers by Vik Muniz features more than three dozen characters created in glass mosaic and laminated glass installed throughout the mezzanine and entrance areas.

Marsha joins a couple of Muniz’ perfect strangers

Muniz created this series of three dozen life-size portraits that seem to be waiting for a train along the concourse and entrances to the station.

A portrait of Vik Muniz himself as some of the “strangers” really aren’t strangers

The portraits are from staged photos of people Muniz knows often playing slightly off-kilter characters he made up like this cop with a popsicle just below.

“I wanted them to be normal people,” Muniz said. “I know lots of normal people. I kept thinking: Who would make the perfect stranger?”

Some of the subjects don’t really qualify as normal or strangers, because they’re well known: for example, the restaurateur Daniel Boulud is there holding a bag with a fish tail sticking out.

(You can see that and lots more in my gallery of Second Avenue Line Stations art.)

Without a doubt my favorite, most engaging and fun of the new stations.

Everyone wants to look, touch and smile.

Muniz actually coerced his son to wear this Tony the Tiger costume

“In the subway you really don’t end up remembering anything but the people,” says Muniz. “You remember the characters, and you make up stories about them.”