Both H. and T. were able to make a visit to Tribeca Park Cafe before it closed on Friday to grab some shots of the mural of the neighborhood that ran above the counter.

It was painted in 1992 by Konstantin Bokov, an American Ukrainian artist who was born in 1940 in Shostka. The deli’s owner, Sayed Abdalla, would often see Bokov painting in Tribeca Park and documenting the neighborhood, so he commissioned the mural for the deli in 1991. Over the decades following, Bokov would come by from time to time to touch it up, Sayed’s son said.

According to a bio from the Van Der Plas Gallery on Orchard, Bokov’s father was a famous Ukrainian songwriter and poet, and “it was at his wish that Bokov attended the Art Academy of Leningrad. There, he studied music and was introduced to painting. After finishing university, Bokov moved to Moscow, where he encountered Van Gogh’s Red Sunset. The zealous experience of seeing that work ultimately inspired Bokov to pursue painting.”

He moved to the US in 1974, was a member the Rivington School art group that emerged in the East Village in the ’80s and created paintings, sculptural works from found objects and public installations — like ours.

A documentary made about his work 12 years ago features Philip Williams from the Poster Gallery on Chambers; this must be the connection! I will follow up with Philip.