British artist Ewan Gibbs makes painstaking drawings in pencil or ink, composed of thousands of single marks, either circles or lines, one per square of the graph paper support. For his series From the Empire State Building, the artist visited the Empire State Building’s observation deck to photograph surrounding buildings that then were used as source material in the studio. The resulting drawings are built square-by-square with the artist’s focus on one small section at a time, rather than on the image as a whole. With each drawing sharing the same title, Gibbs hopes to erase a narrative and focus on how we perceive the image instead. While the meticulous nature of Gibb’s work draws us in, each subject is recognized more distinctly when observed from a distance.

The former Verizon Building at 375 Pearl Street has long been considered one of New York City’s ugliest buildings. The oppressive structure was erected in 1975 and climbs 32 stories into the sky. While the height is almost negligible compared to some of the supertalls today, the tower’s prime skyline position amongst some of the world’s most celebrated architectural creations has done nothing to help shroud its banal facade. When the telephone switching center opened its doors, New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger described it as the “most disturbing” addition to the city. The building’s fortress-like facade has changed, as has the entire city’s skyline, since Gibbs explored it twenty years ago.