Digital Artwork Connects Landscape of the Past with Technology of the Future for a Moment of Contemplation in New York’s Busiest Plaza for the entire month of August.
Still from eye-land by KESH. Photo courtesy of the artist and Times Square Arts.
(NEW YORK, NY — July 27, 2022) — Times Square Arts, the largest public platform for contemporary performance and visual arts, is pleased to present eye-land by acclaimed visual artist, designer, and DJ KESH for the entire month of August as part of the organization’s signature Midnight Moment series. eye-land is presented in collaboration with Womxn in Windows.
Midnight Moment is the world’s largest, longest-running digital art exhibition, synchronized on over 90 electronic billboards throughout Times Square nightly from 11:57pm to midnight. This year, Times Square Arts is celebrating the ten year anniversary of the Midnight Moment series with a roster of all women artists until April 2023.
KESH’s eye-land is a visual work that brings the feeling of nature into the hyper-digital space of Times Square. The artwork unites the future and the past by displaying the duality of the natural and tech-based worlds while proposing that the two can co-exist as we rapidly advance. KESH utilizes her signature eye symbol along with a butterfly traveling through a serene landscape as a metaphor for an artist's journey, one that is always evolving.
The setting of Times Square is intentional—and eye-land serves as a reminder that New York City’s manmade environment has been built using natural resources. The buildings and billboards of Times Square embody the juxtaposition between the modern landscape of New York City and the protohistoric environment that lies beneath.
Following a successful European tour with Brazilian Pop-Star Anitta and a performance at Berlin's infamous nightclub Berghain, which hosts some of the world's most respected DJs, KESH will perform a live curated DJ set in Times Square on August, 25th from 11PM until Midnight. She will conclude her set with an original musical composition, “What Lies Beneath”, created specifically to accompany the eye-land visuals being displayed on 90+ billboards from 11:57pm to Midnight.
“What Lies Beneath” is available on all music streaming platforms HERE
“As I walk through the streets, I feel my feet journey across the concrete. I see buildings sprouting up like trees and often wonder - what lies beneath? What do we suppress as we grow?” - KESH
ABOUT KESH
KESH is a British multi-disciplinary artist whose work stretches boundaries between visual art, music and design. Her vision transcends the confines of a singular narrative. In an eclectic celebration of her gifts, KESH, masterfully blends creative technology and experimental sonic art with the more traditional methods of photography, film, sculpture and illustration to produce large-scale digital works, campaigns and installations that are immersive and unmistakably KESH. Her artworks have been sold at historical institutions such as Christie’s Auction House and The Museum of the African Diaspora. KESH’s work has been featured in publications such as Vogue, The Economist, Channel 4 News, Elle, i-D, and the New York Times.
ABOUT WOMXN IN WINDOWS
Womxn in Windows is a platform for the perspectives of womxn on culture, identity and society. What started as an annual public exhibition of womxn-made art films in storefront windows is now on a mission to support intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue. WxW has been regarded by the LA Times as ‘a video art show made for this moment’ and by LA Weekly as ‘an installation that challenges conventions of female representation’. Through the years WxW has shown the works of digital artists and filmmakers such as Ja’tovia Gary, Kilo Kish, Alima Lee, Christine Yuan, Yumna Al Arashi & Arshia Fatima Haq among many others. WxW was founded in 2019 by Zehra Ahmed.
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, such as Mel Chin, Tracey Emin, Jeffrey Gibson, Ryan McGinley, Yoko Ono, and Kehinde Wiley, 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.
PRESS CONTACTS
Ali Rigo
Senior Account Executive, Cultural Counsel
ali@culturalcounsel.com
Lauren Gagnon
Account Coordinator, Cultural Counsel
lauren@culturalcounsel.com