Brian Dailey's JAKAI Illuminates Times Square, 2/1

The brilliant colors of artist Brian Dailey's Jikai will create an even more vibrant environment in Times Square as part of February's Midnight Moment. Dailey's work will premiere just before midnight on February 1st and play every night throughout February from 11:57 p.m. - midnight, welcoming a month of love and attraction in Times Square.

Midnight Moment, a synchronized program on over fifteen of the largest digital signs in Times Square, is a presentation of Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts. This month, Art Production Fund (APF), a non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious public art projects, joins TSAC and Times Square Arts as an additional partner for Midnight Moment.

Dailey works in diverse media including the photographic process, digital film, installations, and painting. In Jikai, he depicts a moth fluttering about a light bulb against a transitioning scarlet to violet background. Jikai references Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, specifically the quote: "Thus hath the candle singed the moth." The reference is a commentary on how people are irresistibly and dangerously attracted to something that they know could lead to their downfall. Dailey has dedicated his film to the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, whose seminal work insightfully commented on the contemporary issues of people and society.

"Metaphors are often a more powerful form to communicate the challenges and issues facing a society," said Brian Dailey.

Toby Sturek, Chairman of the Times Square Advertising Coalition, said: "We're delighted to showcase Brian Dailey's unique film on the Times Square screens as part of February's Midnight Moment. New Yorkers and visitors will surely pause to admire and interpret this fascinating and brilliant video."

Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said: "Jikai will add even more vibrancy to the already vibrant Times Square during the cold, dark month of February."

Sherry Dobbin, Times Square Arts Director, said: "Attraction is a force which engages, enriches and challenges our lives-from intimate encounters to global issues. Everyone can relate to this month's draw to luminescence. And what epitomizes luminescence more than Times Square?"

Doreen Remen and Yvonne Force Villareal, Co-Founders of Art Production Fund, said: Brian Dailey is an artist who has long followed his own voice, and as a result creates work that both questions and inspires. It is very fitting to bring it to the audiences of Times Square."

The following digital screens are participating in the February Midnight Moment:

ABC Super Sign, American Eagle Times Square, Bank of America, CEMUSA, City Outdoor, Disney Store Spectacular, JVC Screen, NASDAQ, Spectacolor HD129 / Times Square Museum & Visitor Center Marquee, ClearChannel HD128, Spectacolor HD127 / CNN Screen, Times Square Museum & Visitor Center, Viacom North & South (SL Green Realty) Thomson Reuters and 7TS (7 Times Square).

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 for 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 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; Brian Gonzalez (aka Taxiplasm); Björk; JR; Ryan McGinley; Jack Goldstein; Nature Theater of Oklahoma; Ezra Wube;Laleh Khorramian; and Yoko Ono. For more information on past projects, please visit www.TimesSquareNYC.org/MidnightMoment.

Midnight Moment content changes monthly; selected works are announced in the week preceding the start of a new show, as are the exact signs participating in that month's selection. Guidelines for artist and designer participation in future programs are located on theTimes Square Alliance website.

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About the Artist

Brian Dailey is represented by Stephan Stoyanov Gallery in New York City, and has studios in Woodstock and Arlington, Virginia. His art uses various media including the photographic process, digital film, installations, and painting. Throughout the 1970s, he worked and exhibited in Los Angeles staging performance art, installations, and conceptual work. In 1981, he became involved in arms control and international security policy. He returned to art full time in 2008. Dailey received his Masters of Fine Arts in Conceptual Art and Painting from Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles and a Ph.D. in International Relations at the University of Southern California.

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

Times Square Arts, the public arts program of the Times Square Alliance, collaborates with contemporary artists to experiment and engage with one of the world's most iconic urban places. Acting as a laboratory for contemporary art in the public realm-a place where ideas are tested and new possibilities explored. Times Square Arts works with artists and cultural institutions to create dialogues with Times Square and all of its physical and mythological manifestations. Through the Square's electronic billboards, public plazas, vacant areas and popular venues, in addition to 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 by ArtPlace America and ArtWorks. Visit www.TimesSquareNYC.org/arts for more information. Follow us on Twitter@TSqArts and Instagram http://instagram.com/tsqarts

Art Production Fund (Co-Founders: Yvonne Force Villareal & Doreen Remen; Director: Casey Fremont) 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. Recent projects include: "After Hours: Murals on the Bowery," NYC, 2011; David Brooks, "Desert Rooftops," NYC, 2011; Josephine Meckseper, "Manhattan Oil Project," NYC, 2012; Kiki Smith, "Chorus," 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; Tony Smith, "One-Two-Three," NYC, 2013; "After Hours 2: Murals on the Bowery," NYC, 2013; Tracey Emin, "Roman Standard," NYC, 2013; Marco Brambilla, "Anthropocene," NYC, 2013.