May 1-31, 2015, every night from 11:57 p.m.–midnight
Andy Warhol, Screen Test: Edie Sedgwick [ST309], 1965
16mm film, black-and-white, silent, 4.5 minutes at 16 frames per second, ©2015 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy The Andy Warhol Museum
(New York, N.Y.) April 22, 2015 — Rare 1960’s Andy Warhol Screen Tests made of Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Lou Reed, Harry Smith and Edie Sedgwick among others in his studio, the Silver Factory, will be shown publicly for the first time on Times Square’s electronic billboards from 11:57 pm to midnight each night in May. This project is a part of Midnight Moment, a monthly presentation by The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts.
In the mid-1960s, Warhol’s studio became a diverse scene of artists, friends, and celebrities, many of whom posed for short videos that the artist called ‘Screen Tests’. Warhol made almost 500 of these silent, slow-motion 16mm film portraits in the span of three years.
The footage that will be shown as part of Midnight Moment Warhol Screen Tests includes Screen Test: Rufus Collins [ST61], 1964; Screen Test: Walter Dainwood [ST66], 1964; Screen Test: Bob Dylan [ST82], 1966; Screen Test: Allen Ginsberg [ST115], 1966; Screen Test: Donyale Luna [ST195], 1965; Screen Test: Nico [ST239], 1966; Screen Test: Lou Reed (Apple) [ST268], 1966; Screen Test: Twist Jim Rosenquist [ST284], 1964; Screen Test: Edie Sedgwick [ST309], 1965; and Screen Test: Harry Smith [ST314], 1964.
Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said, “Andy Warhol is one of 20th century New York’s foremost icons. It’s an honor to showcase his rarely-seen snapshots into the lives of leading musicians and artists of the 60’s, and bring the era back to the present-day cultural center of Times Square.”
Sherry Dobbin, Times Square Arts Director, said, “These Screen Tests capture that awkward, playful and sometimes fearful moment we experience when the camera is turned on us with the simple instruction to just be ourselves.”
Harry Coghlan, Chairman of the Times Square Advertising Coalition said, “We’re excited to showcase the work of world renowned artist, Andy Warhol in the Crossroads of the World; especially as the content of his work features some of the most iconic advertisements of the 1960’s.”
Fred Rosenberg, President of the Times Square Advertising Coalition said, “It’s a unique experience to see the gritty, black and white nature of Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests, harkening back to Times Square’s past, displayed on the modern, high-tech digital screens. Visitors and locals will surely be intrigued by this month’s Midnight Moment.”
Patrick Moore, The Andy Warhol Museum Managing Director, said, “The Andy Warhol Museum is delighted to bring Warhol's Screen Tests to the Times Square Midnight Moment. Working with our partners at MPC, we now have high quality digital scans of Warhol films that allow us to show them in innovative ways, reflective of Warhol's own cutting edge experiments in cinema. These films, some of which have never been seen or rarely seen, document a moment of great creative energy in New York and sharing them with a new public in Times Square is surely a fitting tribute to the city where they were created.”
The following digital screens are participating in the May Midnight Moment:ABC Super Sign, American Eagle Times Square, Bank of America, Branded Cities 7 Times Square, Branded Cities 1 Times Square, Branded Cities NASDAQ Tower Times Square, Branded Cities Thomson Reuters, Outfront Media 1515 Broadway/ Viacom North & South, CEMUSA, City Outdoor, Clear Channel Spectacolor HD127/CNN, Clear Channel Spectacolor HD128, Superior Digital Displays Three Times Square #5, Superior Digital Displays #6, #7, & #8.
About Midnight Moment
Midnight Moment is the largest coordinated effort in history by the sign operators in Times Square to display synchronized, cutting-edge creative content on electronic billboards and newspaper kiosks throughout Times Square every night. The program premiered in May 2012 and is organized and supported by the Times Square Advertising Coalition in partnership with Times Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square Alliance, with additional partners of participating sign holders and artists.
Each night, Times Square becomes a digital art gallery through dazzling visuals on select billboards and newsstands. Every show begins at 11:57 p.m. with a "countdown" that signals the start of the three minute nightly presentation. Past artists featured in the program include Peggy Ahwesh, Marco Brambilla, Rafaël Rozendaal, Sebastian Errazuriz, Charles Atlas and Antony, Noah Hutton, Ryoji Ikeda, Daniel Canogar, Alfredo Jaar; Isaac Julien; Robert Wilson; Tracey Emin; Seoungho Cho; Vicki DaSilva, Surabhi Saraf, and Elly Cho; Erika Janunger; Takeshi Murata; Bel Borba with Burt Sun and André Costantini; Zach Nader; Brian Gonzalez (aka Taxiplasm); Björk; JR; Ryan McGinley; Jack Goldstein; Nature Theater of Oklahoma; Ezra Wube; Laleh Khorramian; Brian Dailey; Leslie Thornton; and Yoko Ono. For more information on past projects, please visit http://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts/projects/midnight-moment/index.aspx.
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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.
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 New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Visit http://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts/index.aspx for more information. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @TSqArts.
Andy Warhol graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh in 1949, when he moved to New York City to pursue a career as a commercial artist, his work first appearing in Glamour magazine in September 1949. In the late 1950s, Warhol began to devote more energy to painting, extending his talents into other fields such as film, publishing, writing, television, and music. Warhol had a life-long fascination with Hollywood, and in 1962 he began a large series of celebrity portraits, including Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Elizabeth Taylor. Also in the 1960s, Warhol began to make films, and he created the multimedia show The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, featuring the rock and roll band The Velvet Underground. Warhol continued to produce a prolific number of paintings, prints, photographs, and drawings—Mao, Skulls, Shadows, Dollar Signs, Camouflage, and many more—over the next two decades until his death in 1987.
About The Andy Warhol Museum
Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the place of Andy Warhol’s birth, The Andy Warhol Museum holds the largest collection of Warhol’s artworks and archival materials and is one of the most comprehensive single-artist museums in the world. The Andy Warhol Museum is one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Additional information about The Warhol is available at www.warhol.org.
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Media Contacts:
For Times Square Arts:
TJ Witham (212) 452-5234│ TJWitham@TimesSquareNYC.org
Marisa Wayne (212) 843-9216 │MWayne@Rubenstein.com
For TSAC:
Justine DiGiglio (212) 205-6632 │Justine@NicholasLence.com