Exhibition:

FADING AD CAMPAIGN:
VINTAGE PAINTED SIGNS
by  FRANK H. JUMP

August 4 to November 1, 1998

THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
2 West 77th Street
New York, NY  10024
212-873-3400

Clinging precariously to bricks and mortar, time and the elements their
greatest enemy, they can be found on almost every street in New York
City. Many of us fail to notice.If we do it is with but a quick glance
or a quizzical eye searching for recognition in fading paint.  They have
not escaped the eye of Photographer Frank H. Jump however, who has
documented the painted advertisements found on building walls in the
metropolitan area.You can see his work at a new exhibition at The
New-York Historical Society entitled  FADING AD CAMPAIGN:
VINTAGE PAINTED SIGNS. The exhibition is not just a record of
painted signs, it is a visual delight reflecting one of the many pieces 
that make New York a treasure trove to explore and experience.

At first look the photos appear to be just pictures of fading signs.Each
contains an ad or two, sometimes one sign can be seen through the
peeling layers of other advertisement painted on top. When you take a
second look the photos begin to speak volumes about the subject matter
and the artistic eye of Mr. Jump. There are colors and textures and
varying shades of light and dark, bringing the eye back again, and again
in a constant motion of discovery. The richness of the pictures are in the
little details surrounding the vintage signs; lines of bricks and mortar,
reflections in windows, a telephone wire cutting across the image.  Not
only are the signs documented but so are the everyday things we take for
granted;cars,graffiti,pedestrians, cabs, etc. All the things that make up
the unique tapestry of New York City.

In his forward Mr. Jump states that "the images are metaphors for
survival. Many have outlived their expected life span and the products
they advertise." The painted sign may someday vanish from the urban
landscape but with the help of Photographer Frank Jump they will live on
in brilliant, glossy images of line and color. This exhibition runs now
through November 1, 1998  
                                  
                                  

                    Jon Lee