The Tamesis
The tradition of oversized sculptures, portraits and paintings is long and storied. Lucian Freud painted a portrait of Kate Moss, Shaun Lean modeled Laura Morgan for Lee Alexander McQueen’s rolled corsets, and Maggie Maurer’s face was emblazoned on Schiaparelli bags. Now, it seems Gen Z fashion model Alex Consani inspired one of the digital characters created for his “Midnight Hour”, Tomokazu Matsuyama (aka Matsu).
The Midnight Hour project was born in 2012 to add an artistic flair to the bustling environment of Times Square, displaying commissioned artwork on hundreds of billboards from 41st to 49th Streets from 11:57 p.m. to midnight. Beginning March 31 and running through April, it’s the turn of Brooklyn-based Japanese contemporary artist Matsuyama, known for his colorful and dreamlike reimaginings of old and new references.
It took Matsuyama months to figure out what form his 180 seconds would take. “I don’t want to just animate my work and let it flourish,” he said. “Times Square represents so much of New York, and I wanted to find a way to make this project meaningful.” He accomplished this by relying on friends and muses, people who are defining culture today, including Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, Naomi Watanabe, and Alex Consani, as a starting point for his digital recreation. “I want to echo the voices of those who make our communities a brighter place and welcome being an American in this country,” he said.
As a Brooklyn girl, the importance of the project was not lost on Consani herself. Before becoming one of the most popular models in the fashion industry, she briefly studied art at Pace University in New York City. “I think it’s a really cool thing to be able to appreciate the meaning behind a work of art,” she said during a visit to Matsu’s Greenpoint studio and see her digital avatar for the first time. “We’re all privileged to see so much art and creativity, especially now with social media, you can be caught off guard in a way. It’s really special to be able to see things and the intention that people put into their work.”
