Last night in Times Square, one might have noticed a different kind of sign amidst the bright lights of advertising: "Jasmine Never Sorry (for Ai Weiwei)," a 23-story work of luminescent grafitti art by Vicki DaSilva. The piece, which pays tribute to the words of Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, was launched in a lighting ceremony hosted by Roots drummer, Questlove.
And how did Ms. DaSilva, a substitute teacher from Allentown, Pa, earn such a privileged viewing space in Manhattan real estate? She won an online art contest. Coordinated by ArtistsWanted.org -- a website that connects artists to a global audience -- the contest promised a $10,000 cash prize and a Times Square exhibition to the artwork that received the most votes from its online community. Ms. DaSilva, participating in a pool of over 35,000 competitors, emerged the victor.
But this will not be the last piece of art on view in Times Square. The New York Times reports that the Times Square Advertising Coalition may donate a dozen more digital billboards for the purpose of showcasing art. Nor will it be the last contest thrown by Artists Wanted -- the website is planning to hold four competitions a year in art, fashion, photography, and more.
It's an exciting venture; not only does it draws attention to emerging artists in an online community, but it also expands the physical presence of art in the city. And given the choice between an over-sized Sprint ad and a piece of art, the crowds of Times Square may find more to appreciate in the latter.
For more information on Artists Wanted, go HERE.
[Photos via]
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Art Fakes Times Square
June 19, 2012
8:58pm
I'm all for supporting artists and promoting art in public places, but this event was a joke and Artists Wanted is nothing more than a for-profit business model scamming starving/unestablished artists out of their money in exchange for false promises. The only thing they projected on billboards last night was their own logos. Art was all relegated to two temporary and tiny screens on the street.
Laorens
June 21, 2012
10:53am
I was there. Came from France with my husband for the event and was very disappointed by the size of the screens showing arts although i received a confirmation mail saying art would be displayed on a 6m (19 feet) wide screen and it was finally showed on two poor resolution 8 feet screens... I think the only "artist" really showed is Chashama, disappointed with the atmosphere. And when I asked for the guest pass for the VIP after party for my husband I received a raw 'no' whereas I made 12'000 km for the event and that the person before me hadn't RSVP but she flanneled with the Artist Wanted crew in front of us and managed to get a pass... such a shame. It's sure ArtistsWanted made business with that event. You must know that for each piece of art showed on the temporary screens each artist has paid around 28$ for a 5 second exhibition of only one art piece. Yes the place remains great but the mail that we - artists - received suggested that arts would be displayed on the Times Square billboards themselves. Artists Wanted communicated on the fact communicates that 45'000 artists participated to the event. I let you calculate: 45'000 artists each paying 28$... This sounds like good business.
June 21, 2012
11:36pm
I was one of the artists there as well, and thought it was pretty cool to see your work up there, as the billboard add costs on Times Square are incredibly high so this is a great opportunity for most artists, and probably the only chance most of them will ever get to see their work on Times Square. Sure the colors on my picture looked nothing like the original but I still think artists should be appreciative of this opportunity and of any attempt by big businesses to support art.
petersonjulie
June 22, 2012
5:30pm
im proud of the friends efforts, her september 11 auto generated needlepoint 'art' capture how the mind remembers and proceeses and records an event that changed the world. some artistes capture historical moments, others carp about exposure, money...hmm. different paint storkes for different folks??