ATZ first learned of the existence of this stone face on Coney Island’s beach last spring via a tweeted photo. Since its exact location was not tweeted, we asked Coney Island resident and photographer Bruce Handy if he knew. After a summer-long search, Bruce finally found and photographed the Easter Island-like stone face carved into a rock on Coney Island’s beach! “I like how the people are laying on the rocks, unaware of the Easter Face,” he says.
Can you guess the stone face’s location? Hint: It is somewhere between Seagate and Brighton–all of which was Coney Island when Coney was an island. If anyone knows who carved the rock and when, please leave a comment below. Hey, maybe the Easter Islanders made a trip to Coney Island?! Or is it a depiction of Neptune, the god of the sea?
Related posts on ATZ…
February 26, 2010: Photo of the Day: Snow Mermaid on Coney Island Beach
January 25, 2010: Bruce Handy’s Photo Album: Doomed Dreamland Artist Club Mural
January 8, 2010: By the Numbers: Coney Island New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim 2010
December 20, 2009: Coney Island Photo of the Day: First Snow on the Cyclone
Wow, that was fast! Hey, we didn’t announce any prize, but next time you’re in the neighborhood, would like to buy you a coffee or a beer! But the fact that it was carved way back in the 70s adds a whole lotta interest to the story! Can you tell us anything about the person who was carving it? Is it Neptune’s face or??
Thanks! I was a kid, so what I remember is a leathery, shirtless tanned old man with white hair and facial hair. I was born in 1968, so I would say I saw the guy carving this between 1976 and 1979. Yeah, a huge swath of time, but I know it was not earlier than that. Definitely looks “smoother” due to age than I remember it.
No idea who the guy was but there is an equal chance he’s a artist or one of the many transient “characters” Brighton’s cheap rent attracted. Or perhaps a mix of both?
Who knows exactly. What a magical, weird place the neighborhood was back then.
Oh, for what it’s worth I always thought it was an American Indian. As an adult it looks a tad Aztec to my eyes.
Ohhh! Wow! Someone found it! I know exactly where it is since I remember seeing it being carved in the 1970s when I was a kid. I tried to find it when came back to NYC but I think it was buried under the sand at the time.
Folk art for sure. Than you for sharing your memories of the carver. It’s amazing that more than 30 years later, this anonymous work endures. Thanks to the fact that it’s carved in stone on a public beach!
Found three more smaller faces on another rock. Will post to flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pablo57/
Wow! I had been thinking, the artist must have done other work. I wish we could find out more about him
Russian language on faces detected…