New Exhibit at Canopy Hotel Highlights Jersey City Artist’s Fusion of Sports and Impressionism

This JC Friday, a new show has popped up at the Canopy, a hotel hosted by Hilton in the Jersey City Arts District. Lauren Krasnoff shares her experience in creating the pieces that were present in the show.

“Fan/Follower” by Lauren Krasnoff, an acrylic-based painter, follows a scheme of large crowds at sporting events including golf, soccer, baseball, and other popular Americana sports. Krasnoff depicts these sporting games by focusing on the fanbase, with loose and thick brush strokes depicting the movement of each fan as they witness the winning point. “I focus on the crowds whenever I go to a game,” Krasnoff explains. “They are a collective centered on celebrating the team and their victory.” She is encapsulated in the idea that the fanbase is just as important as the game. 

Every piece contains a common thread. Each has a collective of unrecognizable characters, a blank face with fast-moving arms and legs. We can sense that the characters are cheering and hollering just by how quick each brushstroke is placed. Krasnoff enjoys the negative space especially present in golf courts and the flat, more breathable area, allowing a break for the viewers from the intense crowds. 

Robinson Holloway, the Director of ARTS 14C and a former Sports Illustrated journalist, paneled the discussion, focusing on the blend between art and sports, “There are not many sports artists and there should be.” As a sports lover herself, she emphasizes on the uniqueness of Krasnoff’s work, especially with the focus being on the fanbase. “When we watch a game, we become tribal, we become Yankee fans and hate Giants fans,” Robison observed. Krasnoff started truly painting the sports figures when she came to the ARTS 14C year-long artist residency program. There, she made all of the pieces featured in the show. 

The Canopy hotel, located at the heart of Jersey City, curates a rotating art gallery in their lobby floor every year since they were first established. The Canopy Hotel has partnered with ARTS 14C, a non-profit artist program located in Jersey City, ever since they were founded 5 years ago. Martin Aguilar, the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Canopy Hotel, works together with Holloway to curate the art pieces on the walls of the lobby, greeting guests with a splash of Jersey spirit. “Guests would always come to me to talk about the pieces during breakfast or dinner,” Aguilar remarks. “They just love the work!”

JC Fridays, a quarter-year art touring event that happens in Jersey City, celebrates artists like Krasnoff who create unique, multi-faceted work for the Jersey City community.