The Bright Passage

In this drawing Duke Riley presents real and imagined accounts about the original residents as well as an imaginary group of contemporary inhabitants of Mill Rock Island, a small, inhospitable strip of land just north of Roosevelt Island in the East River of New York. Initially named Bright Passage or Hell Gate by Dutch explorers, the island and the river become a mythical place in Riley’s densely rendered scenes. Influenced by tattoo art as well as woodcuts and nineteenth-century whaling art, this large-scale drawing invites the viewer to find hidden treasures and stories depicting tales of sexual exploits with pirates, mermaids and other mythical creatures. Part of Riley’s vast multimedia project East River Incognita 1, The Bright Passage further evokes the ambiguous line between history and myth by including fragments and landmarks of contemporary life in New York.