New York’s history is much grittier than its glamorous Times Square lights fool tourists into believing. For those who grew up here, like artist Danny Cortes, the city’s cultural bubble has evolved. The graffiti-covered subways of the ‘80s are long gone giving way to updated interiors with digital screens that play food tutorials on loop. Like many native New Yorkers, Cortes has seen it all. His miniature mailboxes and model versions of vinyl shops find that corner of New York where timeless grimy charm still reigns.
The Bushwick native’s installment to the extended exhibition Landmark, in collaboration with retail cannabis dispensary Gotham and The House of Cannabis NYC, recounts New York institutions with a nostalgic view. “[Architecture] was one of the things that I tried to pursue. I really took the first step with the miniatures,” the artist told AN.
Miniature models are a stepping point in the design of any building. For Cortes, they were a pandemic hobby that he debuted on TikTok, which turned him into a 21st-century artist. “Every building in this city starts off with a miniature. Before I leave this earth, I would like to have a building erected in my style,” Cortes added.
As he dutifully paints a wheeled dumpster on wood, nothing shouts more Brooklyn than a graffitied tribute to Biggie Smalls. Cortes’s willful imaginative view of the city allows for his creative pieces to shine. Many of his pieces are made from recycled materials making them accidentally environmentally conscious—he’s just really that good. “When I walk outside, I see the world now and build a grid. I see this building, everyone sees that it’s too big. I’m already thinking maybe just kebab skewers or straws. My mind is already thinking of objects and how I can mimic it,” he said, describing his artistic process.
Cortes’s big idea small creations have been sold at Sotheby’s, an achievement any TikTok sensation would envy. It’s that niche romanticization and nostalgia for ‘80s and ‘90s New York culture that captivates the eye: the detailed stickers on a street post and the dedicated rusting on a mailbox. While semblances of old New York still linger, many have washed away with gentrification. “Brooklyn definitely has a lot of the gentrification going on, but instead of seeing the negative, look at the positive,” Cortes said. “Embrace what’s going on now and trust me, there is beauty in everything.”
@dannycortesnyc THE BEST PART ABOUT MAKING ART IS WHEN YOU CAN PUT A SMILE ON A PERSONS FACE JUST BY RECREATING A MEMORY THANK YOU SO MUCH casa adela FOR GIVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO RECREATE YOUR AMAZING RESTAURANT #nyc #viral #ART #lowereastside #casaadela #miniature @CasaAdelaNYC ♬ original sound – Danny Cortes
Cortes tributes much of his art to memories, not only his own, but those of the locals around him. For the artist the Latin community is one he knows well, one he can do justice to with his eyes closed. “One of the pieces that got me a little recognition was a bodega that was a New York staple in Marcy Avenue and Broadway, in southside Brooklyn,” he recalled. Similar to other rent-hike stories, the bodega was moved out by gentrification.
“The owner put his family through college through a bodega,” Cortes added. “That was the place where everyone went after church and would have food there. Due to gentrification, once again, they had to get out. So when I made that piece it touched the neighborhood so much that I got hooked to that. There’s these stories all over the world.”
After recounting numerous New York places, Cortes is off to shrink the rest of the world. He’s heading to Belgium for a show in May and hopes to find inspiration from his European surroundings. For now his tiny works are on view at The House of Cannabis in NYC at 427 Broadway through March 24. Miniatures on display include a tribute to Hip-Hop with shrunken versions of the Apollo Theater and a Wu-Tang street post. In a city full of skyscrapers, Cortes’s miniatures detail the ongoing love many have for New York.
