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On the beach of Brighton Beach at low tide you can see the mysterious faces of the stone: how they appeared there

'26.12.2022'

Nadezhda Verbitskaya

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When the tide goes out or a strong storm passes, stone faces appear from the sand on Brighton Beach. The origin of these mysterious ancient figures is a conundrum that has puzzled Trisha Vita, the administrative director of the Coney Island History Project, for more than a decade. Now she finally has an answer to the question, where did the stone faces on Brighton Beach come from? Untapped.

В recently published story Vita revealed the name of the person behind the mysterious stone carving. Vita first discovered the stone faces of Brighton Beach in a Twitter photo in 2010. Not knowing where to find them, she sent her friend, photographer Bruce Handy, on a scouting mission. After a summer spent on the beaches of Brighton and Coney Island, he was able to find five different sculptures. Another friend of Vita's, photographer Jim McDonnell, added his own piece to the puzzle. In 2022, McDonnell came across photographs of similar stone carvings in an exhibition at the Nabi Gallery. In his opinion, the sculptures created by the Brooklyn-born artist are very similar to the sculptures found on the beach. After he gave advice to Vita, she was able to confirm that the same artist had a hand in the stone faces on the beach and in the exhibition.

On the subject: How Russians and Ukrainians get along on New York's Brighton Beach while their home countries are at war

sculpture maker

The artist who created the Easter Island-like stone sculptures is Bensonhurst-born painter and sculptor John Philip Capello.

Capello has always been close to art. He also often accompanied his older brother Luciano on trips to New York churches, where Luciano worked on restoration projects. Capello says he turned to sculpture because it allowed him to use both hands. That is, both sides of the brain, both the logical and the creative side. The brothers and their friends spent a lot of time on the beaches of Brooklyn. They drew, played chess, or simply enjoyed the scenery. In the 1970s, they had a new inspiration.

Photo: IStock

“We saw these images in stone,” Capello explained to Vite. “We looked at the stones and saw what we wanted to see: a nose, an eye socket, a place where you can make a mouth or a chin. You look and you know they are already there.”

Using various tools, Capello and his brother Luciano set to work carving faces out of the stones. Capello took pleasure in carving open mouths into faces that filled with water at high tide. They worked at low tide when the stones were exposed. And then let their creations sink when the tide returned.

Figurative sculptures vary in style

They can also be interpreted in different ways. One sculpture with a beard and long hair, which Capello says was modeled after the god Neptune, appears to Vita and her friends as "Jesus of Brighton." John says that this particular sculpture was carved by his brother.

These sculptures were not made quickly. They required multiple visits and a lot of effort. Capello explained that the stone found on the beach is not what the sculptor usually uses for carving. It is much more difficult and more difficult to process and cut.

“We just did it for ourselves to pass the time,” Capello said. Often people sit on rocks, completely unaware that a face is looking at them.

While time and water have worn away some of the faces on the beach, others are still clearly visible for you to admire.

Faces on the beach could appear not only on Brighton Beach, but it did not work out

Capello moved to Sag Harbor in the 1980s. It was in this new city that he was again inspired by the beach. However, this time he was interrupted in the process of creating the work. Certain stones show only hints of what might have been.

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