Amy Namowitz Worthen (American, b. 1946)
Court Avenue Underpass, 1982
Engraving on Paper
14.5 x 12.625 in.
Gift of Christopher A. Graf
Peering into the organized abyss of Court Avenue Underpass, the sweeping arches draw me into the cross-hatched expanse and a half-oval of light under one of the arches suggests the brightness outside the tunnel which contrasts the dark, enclosed interior of the space depicted below the underpass. On the right-hand side of the print, a column rises suddenly out of the flat expanse and the bottom half of the column ripples into the flat-edged base.
Amy Namowitz Worthen’s other engravings on paper in the Van Every/Smith Galleries collection–such as Court Avenue Underpass, which depicts an overpass in Des Moines–often incorporate arch-inspired forms such as doorways appearing within architectural, and sometimes interior, spaces. Worthen’s other works in the collection such as Sankt Gottard Mainz II and Sankt Gottard Mainz III, evoke a three-dimensional and dynamic space created through the several sets of nested arches similar to Court Avenue Underpass. The doorways in Terrace Hill with Engraving of Sankt Gottard, Mainz (1982) situate the viewer in a domestic interior and incorporate a bright orange color – unlike the other three prints rendered solely in black and white. Terrace Hill creates also contains a dramatic sense of depth through consecutive sets of nested arches. Worthen has lived and worked in Des Moines, where the print is set, since 1970.
Looking at Court Avenue Underpass I’m transported to the viaduct on 129th Street in New York, paralleling Riverside Drive. Worthen’s scene reminds me of standing on the sidewalk below the metal arches and waiting for stretches of time. In the cavern-like space, sounds appeared amplified and distinct: the slap of cardboard boxes being unloaded onto the sidewalk from a truck, a shopping cart rattling across the pavement, and birds chirping and flying between the arches.
– Saskia Sheinkman ’25