Times Square Arts, the public art division of the Times Square Alliance, presents the new Fall Arts Program which kicks off this September. As part of the Alliance’s commitment to showcasing the best of contemporary art, this year’s lineup includes works from Anne Nguyen, Rachel Valdés Camejo, Elizabeth Peyton, Tim Etchells, Emilio Perez and Tal Yarden and partnerships with The Metropolitan Opera, FIAF, Crossing the Line Festival, Cuban Artists Fund and Open House New York.
All events are free to the public.
MIDNIGHT MOMENT
September 1 – 30
Tantris
Artist: Elizabeth Peyton
Times Square's Electronic Billboards
For the opening of the Metropolitan Opera season, legends come to life in Elizabeth Peyton and Kristian Emdal's Tantris (Young Tristan) – a dreamlike exploration of the young hero's life before Wagner's epic love story Tristan und Isolde begins.
October 1 – 31
Eyes Looking
Artist: Tim Etchells
Times Square's Electronic Billboards
Etchells creates poetry through melting text. Each simple phrase suggests an everyday action or human details that ask us to freeze and contemplate our own counter-rhythms to the city.
November 1 – 30
Dream Season
Artist: Emilio Perez
Times Square's Electronic Billboards
Inspired by the rhythms and energy of Times Square, Dream Season brings to life a series of collaged drawings, painted gestures and layers of atmospheric color that recall distant galaxies which ebb and flow like the never-ending crowds that pass through the city and the bodies of water that surround it.
December 1 – 30
Counting Sheep
Artist: Tal Yarden
Times Square's Electronic Billboards
For the year's end, Yarden creates a soothing American pastiche of Wyoming sheep herding landscapes. Tracing through the year's natural seasons, the arc of the day, or the cycle of sleep, he rocks us with a visual lullaby for the city that never sleeps.
AT THE CROSSROADS
September 25
Anne Nguyen’s Graphic Cypher
46th/47th Streets Broadway Plaza
2:30pm, 4:30pm
Champion B-girl Anne Nguyen teams up with 20 street dancers from NYC to create a new experience from hip-hop dance forms, manifesting as a dizzying circle in a radical re-take on the traditional cypher.
September 26
The Metropolitan Opera Opening Night
Times Square's Electronic Billboards and Broadway Plazas
An 11-year tradition continues as the Metropolitan Opera's 2016-2017 season opens with a live simulcast of Wagner's epic romantic tragedy, Tristan und Isolde, on the electronic billboards of Times Square.
October 18 - November 21
Rachel Valdés Camejo’s The Beginning of the End
46th/47th Streets Broadway Plaza
Broadway Plaza between 46th and 47th Sts
Rachel Valdés Camejo's interactive, reflective, contemporary and ephemeral monument asks visitors to visually or spiritually investigate the relationship of the viewer to the object and its surrounding space to create infinite perceptions.
HIDDEN ASSETS
October 15 & 16 11:00pm-midnight
Open House New York Weekend: Tours of Times Square
Nighttime Spectaculars
Let the Midnight Moment curator expose the history of Times Square’s "Spectacular Signs,” which have been cultural landmarks for over a century, on a tour that will culminate with a viewing of Eyes Looking, October's Midnight Moment.
October 16
Open House New York Weekend: Tours of Times Square
Penthouse Suites of Times Square
12:00pm-1:30pm
This exclusive tour invites you to get an inside look into the diverse designs of boutique Times Square hotels that redefine the 'penthouse suite.'
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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. For more information, visit http://www.timessquarenyc.org/midnightmoment
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 ArtPlace America and ArtWorks. Visit TimesSquareNYC.org/Arts for more information. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @TSqArts.