Jingo de la Rosa’s signature blend of warmth and precision is on display this month in the City Gallery. A new series of ink and watercolor pieces showcase parts of Indianapolis that are so familiar, you will get an instant flashback to the scenes depicted. Familiar, but often overlooked, the subject matter is intersections. De la Rosa’s urban sketches, intimate and informal, act as intersections themselves: both place-bound and transportative.

16th and Delaware. Ink and watercolor. 5 x 7

They are places we find ourselves in by accident, waiting in the car or at the crosswalk impatiently for our turn to go. These corners of the city unintentionally become landmarks of memories, as each intersection holds not one, but likely hundreds of similar moments in time. Often, the intersections are part of a route in our minds, whether the commute to work or the way to a friend’s place, that evoke the emotions incited by the end destination.

Using techniques influenced by his background in graphic design and commercial illustration, De la Rosa captures the street corners with near photographic position. The use of watercolor and sketching, however, is more in line with his personal work, which tends to reflect his experience and movements within his environment.

Virginia Ave and Woodlawn. Ink and watercolor. 5 x 7.

The series lacks notable time markers, reinforcing the amalgam of intersection encounters, rather than a singular moment preserved. Other than a few green trees and bits of grass, “Intersections” does not offer specific seasonal cues; the blue-grey skies could be nearly any time of day, from first light to evening.

Likewise, it is only the construction scaffolding in the background of “New Jersey and Mass Ave” or the billboard hanging at “16th and Delaware”— an easter egg inclusion of De la Rosa’s logo design for the Harrison Center’s Independent Music and Arts Festival, held in June— that give an astute observer any clues as to when the scenes were captured. Without lines of traffic waiting at each stoplight, they may be from the lockdown era of 2020 or from an imagined time entirely.

Pennsylvania and St. Joseph. Ink and watercolor. 5 x 7.

“Intersections” will be on display in the Harrison Center’s City Gallery for the month of August. The exhibit can be viewed in-person by appointment and in our online gallery, where all pieces are available for purchase.