Brian C. Moss

Shared / Divided (July 25, 2014, NY Times), 2014 - 2020, graphite on vellum, 80 x 130 inches

exhibited in 2020 in conjunction with Drive-By-Art Los Angeles and We Are Here / Here We Are

Shared / Divided (July 25, 2014, NY Times), 2014 - 2020, graphite on vellum, 80 x 130 inches

This project is a selective tracing of an article by Ginia Bellafante where she described an uproar over a new building in the Riverside section of New York that had separate entrances for residents based on their income: both “market rate” and subsidized affordable units were built within in the same building. In her 7/25/14 column for the New York Times, Bellafante wrote about a building that combined condominiums with affordable rental units for low-income residents. The building “received approval from the city for separate entrances — one for wealthy residents and one for those earning far less who would occupy the project’s affordable units, in a separate wing.” My situation at a live-work studio built in Santa Monica is similar.

Shared / Divided (July 25, 2014, NY Times), 2014 - 2020, graphite on vellum, 80 x 130 inches

The artwork occupied the windows of my unit which is situated on an alley separating two building complexes. One is comprised of condominiums while the other (mine) houses low to moderate income apartments with rents determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). They were built in 2012-13 by Related Companies, a global real estate developer and have separate gated entrances, as well as a shared underground garage (divided by a chain-link fence).

Shared / Divided (July 25, 2014, NY Times), 2014 - 2020, graphite on vellum, 80 x 130 inches

Vacancy de-control began in California in 1999. A state law (originally passed in 1995) began to allow landlords to increase rents to “market rates” in units that became vacant after the law went into effect. In 1999, 83% of all units in Santa Monica were affordable, while in 2017, less than 4% were affordable. In 2018, a tenant must have earned over $110,000 per year to afford a median two bedroom unit (according to HUD, your rent should be 30 percent of your monthly adjusted income).

Shared / Divided (July 25, 2014, NY Times), 2014 - 2020, graphite on vellum, 80 x 130 inches