Featuring William Kentridge, Shantell Martin, Allison Schulnik, MODU and Eric Forman Studio, Cooper Hewitt, Gallery Met at the Metropolitan Opera, and MASS MoCA
(NEW YORK, NY — November 26, 2019) — Times Square Arts, the largest public platform for contemporary performance and visual arts, is pleased to announce the New Year Season Arts Program.
Under the leadership of newly appointed Times Square Arts Director Jean Cooney, the organization will build on its history of public art and free programming with a renewed focus on creating opportunity for artists across disciplines to present bold, universally accessible concepts that resonate with the site’s global, multicultural audience of millions. The organization recently launched the inaugural cohort of Public Art Ambassadors, trained guides who will engage with curious visitors by answering questions and igniting discussions around the Times Square Arts program.
“We are grateful to the artists and institutions that have helped us develop a program worthy of this iconic public space,” said Times Square Arts Director Jean Cooney. “Our projects are on view 24-hours a day, 364 days a year, brightly lit against the backdrop of Times Square, and always free to the public. We look forward to the continued growth of our program and a renewed depth of engagement with New Yorkers and visitors alike.”
Times Square Arts has collaborated with contemporary artists and cultural institutions to engage with one of the world’s most iconic public spaces using the Square’s electronic billboards, public plazas, vacant spaces, and commercial venues. The organization has staged public projects by renowned artists such as Kehinde Wiley, Yoko Ono, Mel Chin, Nick Cave, Andy Warhol, Sophie Calle, Tracey Emin, Ryan McGinley, and Alex Prager.
As part of Times Square Alliance’s commitment to showcasing the best of contemporary art, this season’s lineup includes new Midnight Moment projects featuring William Kentridge, Shantell Martin, and Allison Schulnik. Midnight Moment is the world’s largest, longest-running digital art exhibition — with an estimated annual viewership of 2.5 million— featuring artists’ videos synchronized on electronic billboards throughout Times Square nightly from 11:57pm to midnight. The New Year Season Arts Program also features an installation of 125 mirrors by MODU and Eric Forman Studio as part of Times Square Arts’ At the Crossroads series, which showcases installations and performances in the Broadway plazas of Times Square. New partnerships for the season include Cooper Hewitt, Gallery Met at the Metropolitan Opera, and MASS MoCA.
FULL SCHEDULE
*All events are free and open to the public.
AT THE CROSSROADS
Installations and performances in the Broadway plazas that expose Times Square’s diverse local, national, and international visitors to quality contemporary art.
January 30 – March 1
Heart Squared
MODU and Eric Forman Studio, winners of the 12th annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition
MODU and Eric Forman Studio use the magic of mirrors and light to remix and reflect the urban spectacle of New York City with Heart Squared. As viewers move around the skeletal structure evoking an anatomic heart, the reflections of 125 mirrors coalesce to reveal a kaleidoscopic portrait of city, visitor, and sky. Presented with Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
MIDNIGHT MOMENT
Midnight Moment is the world’s largest, longest-running digital art exhibition, synchronized on electronic billboards throughout Times Square nightly from 11:57pm to midnight. Presented by the Times Square Advertising Coalition and curated by Times Square Arts since 2012, it has an estimated annual viewership of 2.5 million.
December 1–30, 11:57pm–midnight
To What End?
Artist: William Kentridge
Presented with Gallery Met at the Metropolitan Opera
Times Square's Electronic Billboards
To What End? explores the mingled hope and foreboding of looking towards the future. Kentridge, whose new production of Berg’s Wozzeck opens at the Met on December 27, creates, erases, and revises his images over rapidly turning pages, as lines from poems and proverbs flit past — potential fortunes for viewers in Times Square.
January 1–31, 11:57pm–midnight
MOTH
Artist: Allison Schulnik
Presented with MASS MoCA
Times Square's Electronic Billboards
Ushering in the new year with symbols of birth, renewal and change, MOTH features a hand-painted, fluttering moth that transforms from a common insect into ominous, fantastical creatures.
February 1–29, 11:57pm–midnight
Lines of Mars
Artist: Shantell Martin
Times Square's Electronic Billboards
In Martin’s improvisational illustrations, faces and figures appear and disappear amongst images of the city and of Times Square itself, mingling with a playful, direct address to the viewer on the age-old question of identity: “who are you?”
ABOUT MIDNIGHT MOMENT
Midnight Moment is the world’s largest, longest-running digital art exhibition, synchronized on electronic billboards throughout Times Square nightly from 11:57pm to midnight. Presented by the Times Square Advertising Coalition and curated by Times Square Arts since 2012, it has an estimated annual viewership of 2.5 million. For more information, visit tsq.org/midnightmoment.
ABOUT TIMES SQUARE ARTS
Times Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square Alliance, collaborates with contemporary artists and cultural institutions to experiment and engage with one of the world's most iconic urban places. Through the Square's electronic billboards, public plazas, vacant areas and popular venues, and the Alliance's own online landscape, Times Square Arts invites leading contemporary creators to help the public see Times Square in new ways. Times Square has always been a place of risk, innovation and creativity, and the Arts Program ensures these qualities remain central to the district's unique identity. Generous support of Times Square Arts is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts; the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Additional support for Midnight Moment is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Times Square Advertising Coalition. Visit TSq.org/Arts for more information. Follow us on Instagram at @TSqArts.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Eric Forman is a Brooklyn-based artist and designer working at the intersections between fine art, design, architecture, and new technology. Eric started programming as a child in the 1980s and was an early member of the groundbreaking online media entity Pseudo Programs in the mid 1990s. Eric Forman Studio was founded in 2003, and in 2012 was invited to be a founding member of New Lab, a next generation innovation space in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. His studio’s design practice specializes in the latest interactive experiences and digital fabrication techniques for diverse clients. Eric received his Masters in 2002 from ITP at NYU, and his B.A. from Vassar College in 1995 where he developed his own interdisciplinary program called “The Philosophical Ramifications of Computer Technology.” His thesis work there was a pioneering academic investigation of virtual reality and its potential impact on space, ontology, and identity. Eric is currently faculty and Head of Innovation at the Interaction Design MFA program at SVA (School of Visual Arts). ericforman.com
William Kentridge (b. 1955, Johannesburg, South Africa) is internationally acclaimed for his drawings, films, theatre and opera productions. Kentridge’s work has been seen in museums and galleries around the world since the 1990s. He is the recipient of honorary doctorates from several universities including Yale and the University of London and of numerous awards and honors in recognition of his work. He lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa. mariangoodman.com/artists/49-william-kentridge
In addition to prestigious solo shows at some of the most renowned art institutions including the 92Y Gallery in New York City, the iconic Albright Knox gallery and the MoCADA Museum, Shantell Martin (b. 1980, London, England) has carved a path for herself that is as much intellectual as visual artist. During her two-year tenure as a MIT Media Lab Visiting Scholar, Martin collaborated with the social computing group to use drawing as a medium to explore the interaction of social processes with physical spaces. A fashion and design icon in her own right, Martin has collaborated with iconic brands such as Nike, Vitra, Max Mara, Tiffany & Co., and in 2018, Puma launched a global capsule collection featuring her drawings. Martin has collaborated with legendary artists such as Pulitzer Prize winning performance artist Kendrick Lamar and acclaimed designer Kelly Wearstler. In late 2018, she was asked to collaborate with the prestigious New York City Ballet, where she created large scale drawings in the performance hall and foyer of the Lincoln Center for the company’s celebrated Art Series. She continues to teach as an adjunct professor at NYU Tisch ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program), where she works with her students to push the boundaries of storytelling, visual art and technology. Martin lives and works in New York City. shantellmartin.art
Phu Hoang and Rachely Rotem have led MODU since its founding in 2012. They were awarded the 2017 Founders Rome Prize in Architecture, since 1897 an annual prize to those ”who represent the highest standards of excellence in the arts and humanities.” Recently, they have also been awarded the Emerging Voices award from the Architectural League of New York (2019) and the US-Japan Creative Artists fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (2018). Phu holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University in New York. Since 2011, he has taught at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University. Phu is a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, a council Co-chair of its Society of Fellows, and a licensed architect in the states of New York and Connecticut. Rachely holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree (Cum Laude) from Technion in Haifa and a Master in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University, where she was awarded both the Lowenfish Memorial Prize and the William Kinne Fellows Traveling Prize. She currently teaches at RISD and most recently at Syracuse University. Rachely is a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, a licensed architect in Israel, and a LEED Accredited Professional in Building Design and Construction. MODUarchitecture.com
Allison Schulnik (b. 1978 , San Diego, California) is a multimedia artist whose solo exhibitions include the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA; Oklahoma City Museum of Art, OK; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS; ZieherSmith, New York, NY; and Galeria Javier Lopez & Fer Frances, Madrid. She has been making animated films since she was 17. Her films have been included in internationally renowned festivals and museums including the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, LACMA, Annecy International Animated Film Festival and Animafest Zagreb. She received “Best Experimental Animation” at the Ottawa International Animation Festival 2014 and Special Jury Prize at SXSW Film 2011. Her works were compared to "the comic-grotesque visionary James Ensor" by The New York Times. Her work is in the permanent collections of over a dozen institutions including LACMA and Museum des Beaux Arts, Montreal. She lives and works in Sky Valley, CA. allisonschulnik.com
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Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is America’s design museum. Inclusive, innovative and experimental, the museum’s dynamic exhibitions, education programs, master’s program, publications and online resources inspire, educate and empower people through design. An integral part of the Smithsonian Institution—the world’s largest museum, education and research complex—Cooper Hewitt is located on New York City’s Museum Mile in the historic, landmark Carnegie Mansion. Steward of one of the world’s most diverse and comprehensive design collections—over 210,000 objects that range from an ancient Egyptian faience cup dating to about 1100 BC to contemporary 3-D-printed objects and digital code—Cooper Hewitt welcomes everyone to discover the importance of design and its power to change the world. Cooper Hewitt knits digital into experiences to enhance ideas, extend reach beyond museum walls and enable greater access, personalization, experimentation and connection. cooperhewitt.org
Conceived in 2006 by General Manager Peter Gelb and Dodie Kazanjian, the founding director and curator, Gallery Met continues and reaffirms the Metropolitan Opera’s long history of groundbreaking relationships with major visual artists—such as Chagall and Hockney—while fostering new opportunities for collaboration. Last season marked a new program for the Gallery Met initiative, which expanded from its initial ground floor gallery to all corners of the Met’s public spaces, including the Dress Circle level of the opera house, where two monumental new paintings by Cecily Brown, commissioned by the Met, are currently on display and the Grand Tier Terrace, where a new sculpture by George Condo, also commissioned by the Met, dazzles. https://www.metopera.org/visit/exhibitions
MASS MoCA is one of the world’s liveliest centers for making and enjoying today’s most evocative art. With vast galleries and a stunning collection of indoor and outdoor performing arts venues, MASS MoCA is able to embrace all forms of art: music, sculpture, dance, film, painting, photography, theatre, and boundary-crossing works of art that defy easy classification. Through innovative collaborations, MASS MoCA helps artists and their supporters create and show important new work, bringing to our visitors bold visual and performing art in all stages of production, while also creating a stimulating center of creativity and commerce that brings life and economic vibrancy to its hometown. massmoca.org
Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) is a trade association comprised of major advertisers, retailers, real estate firms, media companies and other businesses involved in the outdoor sign industry in Times Square, along with organizations representing Broadway and the community. Members of TSAC include: ABC Regional Sports & Entertainment Sales, Clear Channel Spectacolor, Daktronics, D3 LED, Digital Domination, Hines Management, Jamestown One Times Square, Lamar Advertising Company, Landmark Sign & Electric, Metro Media Technologies, Newmark Knight Frank, North Shore Neon, P.R.omotion!, Sherwood Outdoor, SL Green, Times Square Alliance, The WOW Factor and Thomson Reuters. www.timessquareadcoalition.org. Follow TSAC on twitter at @TSACNYC.
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PRESS CONTACTS
Marcella Zimmermann
Vice President, Cultural Counsel
marcella@culturalcounsel.com
Ali Rigo
Senior Account Executive, Cultural Counsel
ali@culturalcounsel.com