Central Contemporary Arts today announced its inaugural public exhibition, AD SPACE by Andrew Moon Bain, will run from June 6 through July 3, 2022.
The exhibition will showcase thirteen original pieces by Bain on billboards situated in thirteen locations throughout the City of Providence.
Natalie Cohen, founder and director of CCA, said in a statement, “We are excited to partner with local artist Andrew Moon Bain for our inaugural public exhibition. Through AD SPACE, we are bringing contemporary art into the public eye. In launching our community facing exhibition, it was important that CCA partner with an artist with roots in this city, whose work reflects our values of social justice. Andrew has created an evocative display; we are looking forward to presenting his work to the people of Providence.”
Organizers say that AD SPACE will be viewed by an estimated one hundred thousand audience members from the local community and individuals traveling through the city.
This exhibition will be on view parallel to PVDFest, Providence’s signature arts festival.
AD SPACE curator Jonny Skye said, “As the pandemic pulled us in, it did not deter us from gathering in open spaces, to rally, resist and rejoice. ‘Public art’ has been challenged and its importance refreshed as key to moving culture forward – not only in order to tell the whole story, but also by asserting open access to it. This billboard exhibition, AD SPACE, is an extension of the ways we have been challenged to think about who art is for and where it belongs. Andrew Moon Bain’s work fits perfectly in the summer of ‘22 as it demands accountability to our behavior by celebrating the natural world and exposing the human quandary.”
Artist Andrew Moon Bain said, “This project is a dream come true. I was raised in a city, in a pre-digital era sans cellular smartphones and experienced the power of advertising in public spaces. I was all over town by bike, skateboard, car and city bus. A whole lot of the metro bus. Bombarded by billboards, banners, business signs, bus stops and neon.
Bain continued, “Being given the key to that influence, awareness, persuasion and information while synthesizing with art, color, spirit and design feels like an opportunity to capture and honor the audience. In plain sight and totally buried. Installing a consistent visual language around a vast spread of neighborhoods, concrete, highways, roads and cultural boroughs is a challenge that opens up the entire town as a doorway, a large new space that is multi-dimensional yet tangible. I see an urban canvas that exists in plain sight, marked into the landscape. Envisioning a visual web of connected messages, energy, ideas and imagery.”