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Charming Cut Paper Silhouettes Playfully Transform Famous US Landmarks

King Kong has invaded New York while Marilyn Monroe makes a rare appearance at Las Vegas’ Neon Museum. Not really, of course, but cut paper artist Rich McCor imagines a world where they cleverly interact with the surrounding landscapes. Since we wrote about McCor’s work last year, he’s traveled to Europe and the UK, altering what he sees with simple shapes and black paper. “I've been fortunate enough to turn a hobby into a career of traveling the world,” McCor recently told us in an email, “and at the same time doing what I love to do—transforming landmarks with a sense of humor.”

McCor is now in the United States applying his iconic aesthetic to the East and West coast. Spider Man traverses New York skyscrapers with ease as a pair of wings transforms the Stratosphere in Las Vegas into a giant butterfly. If you were previously unfamiliar with McCor's travels destinations, his cut outs provide an amusing introduction. And even if you had visited locales like Central Park many times, his strategically-posed paper allows you to look at it in a whole new way. Follow him on Instagram to see where he’ll go next and what creative scene his imagination will lead to!

Above: Neon Museum, Las Vegas

Empire State Building, New York City

Wall Street, New York City

New York City

Central Park, New York City

Guggenheim Museum, New York City

Headquarters of the United Nations, New York City

Las Vegas, Nevada

MGM Grand, Las Vegas

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas

Stratosphere, Las Vegas

Statue of Liberty, New York City

High Roller Vegas, Las Vegas

New York, New York Casino, Las Vegas

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Rich McCor: Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Rich McCor.

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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