Street Artist Turns Abandoned Swimming Pool Into A Hyper-Colorful Oasis

A two-lane lap pool is nestled behind the rows of park benches that make up the sparsely populated and seldom visited (at least relative to nearby attractions) Roosevelt Island promenade. Once easy to overlook, it's now been adorned with pink, orange and blue gradients thanks to Minneapolis street artist HOTTEA. Now, it'd be hard to miss.

Though he typically experiments with yarn and other forms of less disruptive street art, HOTTEA's latest project involved him drowning a swath of concrete in paint. Like Carlos Cruz Diaz and his ilk, the artist aims to use bright colors to immerse viewers, creating an overwhelming and emotive experience.

HOTTEA's choice of setting draws on the island's past function: it was once home to a now-abandoned asylum. The pool, he told Brooklyn Street Art, represents both a place of refuge where energy can be relinquished, and a state of imbalance.

H/T Brooklyn Street Art

All images courtesy of © Jaime Rojo