L'Enfant Plaza
7th & D St. and 9th & D St. station entrance walls.
H-E-L-L-O and Space Set, 2005
William Wegman
Porcelain enamel photographs
Diameter: 10' (x 2)
Two porcelain enamel circular photomurals by renowned photographer William Wegman depict the artist's Weimaraner dogs in faux NASA space suits floating in microgravity. The murals' circular format against the vaulted station walls suggests the dogs are peering through portholes of a massive spaceship. The photographs were installed at L'Enfant Plaza station due to its close proximity to the NASA Administrative Offices and the National Air and Space Museum. H-E-L-L-O and Space Set add a welcome surprise to L'Enfant Plaza station.
William Wegman was born in 1943 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He received a B.F.A. in painting from the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston in 1965 and an M.F.A. in painting from the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana in 1967. Wegman is famed for his popular images of Weimaraner dogs acting out in human situations. William Wegman lives in New York and Maine where he continues to paint, draw, make videos and take photographs with his dog.
The photos were commissioned by the NASA Art Program and were primarily funded by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities in partnership with the Metro Art in Transit Program.