RASHAAD NEWSOME AT WESTFIELD WORLD TRADE CENTER & WESTFIELD CENTURY CITY
Press Release
WESTFIELD AND ART PRODUCTION FUND PRESENT
RASHAAD NEWSOME’S “ICON”
AT WESTFIELD WORLD TRADE CENTER & WESTFIELD CENTURY CITY
Westfield and Art Production Fund (APF) are pleased to announce the second installment of their ongoing video art program. Starting April 25, 2018, renowned artist Rashaad Newsome’s ICON will be displayed across all of the large-scale screens at Westfield World Trade Center and Westfield Century City until May 2018.
The video works will appear on both center’s state-of-the-art digital media networks, including Westfield World Trades 19 screens of varying size, with one measuring 4 stories tall and another 280 feet long and Century City’s two 100-foot large-format and high impact digital media screens.
RASHAAD NEWSOME is a New York based artist whose practice includes collage, video, music, computer programming, and performance. Throughout his interdisciplinary body of work, Newsome examines how images used in media and popular culture influence the dynamics of power. ICON features a kaleidoscopic portrait of vogue performers within digitally rendered environment that evoke queer Baroque architecture. “ICON is an amalgamation of several ideas I've been working with over the past decade: the design formula of heraldry, ornament, architecture, vogue fem performance, hip hop culture and the
resilience of black queer folk,” said the artist. “In some ways, they are a live action departure from my collage work.”
“The architecture of this period also has many connections to the body, I was thinking a lot about the ribbed vaults and Vitruvian principle found in a lot of these spaces,” explained Newsome. “In the video the dome is activated by queer black bodies performing as a metaphor, for the queering of these seemingly disparate elements. It is queer, not because queer, trans, and gender nonconforming people are visibly leading many contingents of the resistance against dehumanization, but because both the movement and the runway are populated by people who seek to queer, or destabilize the status quo and redistribute
material forms of power.”
“Art Production Fund is thrilled to present Rashaad Newsome’s visually stunning and intricate work on such highly visible, multi-screen platforms,” said Executive Director Casey Fremont. “We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Westfield on this meaningful collaboration at locations that speaks to the diverse community of New York City and Los Angeles."
“We’re tremendously proud to partner with APF on this incredible program,” said Isolde Brielmaier, Executive Director of Art, Culture and Community for Westfield in the US. “Our commitment to art and cultural programming at Westfield continues to take on new and exciting dimensions as we explore how best to serve the dynamic and growing Lower Manhattan and LA communities – from office workers, residents and customers.”
ART PRODUCTION FUND is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences and expanding awareness through contemporary art. Projects include: Rudolf Stingel, "Plan B," NYC, 2004; Elmgreen & Dragset,“Prada Marfa,” Valentine, TX, 2005, permanent; Noble & Webster, “Electric Fountain,” Rockefeller Plaza, NYC, 2008; Yoshitomo Nara, “White Ghost,” Park Avenue, NYC, 2010; Chuck Close & Kehinde Wiley, “ART ADDS 2,” NYC, 2011; “After Hours: Murals on the Bowery,” NYC, 2011; Josephine Meckseper, “Manhattan Oil Project,” NYC, 2012; Yoko Ono, “Imagine Peace Times Square,” NYC, 2012; Yvette Mattern, “Global Rainbow After The Storm,” NYC, 2012; Ryan McGinley, “Taxi TV,” NYC, 2013; FriendsWithYou, “Light Cave,” NYC, 2014; Hanna Liden, "Everything," NYC, 2015; Gerard & Kelly, “Modern Living,” Los Angeles & New Canaan, 2016; Ugo Rondinone, “Seven Magic Mountains,” Las Vegas, 2016-2018; Jeff Koons, “Seated Ballerina,” Rockefeller Plaza, NYC, 2017, Zoe Buckman, “CHAMP,” LA, 2018. Executive Director: Casey Fremont; Director of Operations: Kathleen Lynch; Co-Founders: Yvonne Force Villareal & Doreen Remen. For more information,
please visit artproductionfund.org
WESTFIELD WORLD TRADE CENTER, which opened in the Summer of 2016 and the recently revamped Westfield Century City have unveiled a number of unique art and cultural programs, including performances and works by a variety of community arts organizations, an outdoor film screening series with Tribeca Enterprises and partnerships and programming with the New Museum, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Public Art Fund, the Downtown Alliance, LACMA, Ten 10, the Department of Cultural Affairs in LA as well as with a number of local public and private schools.
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