AABID Curates Original Artwork for its Banners; 6 creative designs in the “I Found it on Atlantic” series by artist Josh Gosfield
Artist Josh Gosfield jumping around the print facility where Atlantic Avenue’s banners were printed.
Josh Gosfield working on Atlantic Avenue’s banners in his studio.
BROOKLYN, NY (Sept 24, 2014) –Just in time for the annual “Atlantic Antic”, the Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District (AABID) is lining the Downtown Brooklyn boulevard with original works of art. The new splash of color will come in the form of the AABID’s banners, a piece of visual real estate that is usually reserved for more mundane imagery. In order to shake things up, the AABID handed over creative responsibilities to the renowned NYC-based artist Josh Gosfield, a former art director for New York Magazine. During the week of September 22, the BID will mount the banners throughout the district that spans the blocks of Atlantic Avenue between the East River and 4th Avenue.
“Until this project with Josh Gosfield, no one had truly explored the banner as a medium for public art, not just advertising,” said Josef Szende, Executive Director of the Atlantic Avenue BID. “In this series we truly see portraits of our neighborhoods – the everyday scenes that make Brooklyn such a special place. What Toulouse-Lautrec did for posters in Montmartre in Paris, Gosfield is doing for street banners in Brooklyn.”
Each of the six banners shows a street scene typical of the businesses, restaurants, and culture of Atlantic Avenue. The images range from a romantic restaurant marriage proposal, to a “foodie’s” weekend shopping ritual. Each installment stands alone or can be interpreted as part of the series.
Gosfield added: “”If cities didn’t exist, I’d still have to draw them–people slammed up against each other, random encounters, stoops, bricks, streetlights, signs, pigeons and people in fabulous hats.”
About Josh Gosfield
Josh Gosfield has been involved in numerous aspects of the visual arts. He was the art director of New York Magazine for eight years. He has won numerous awards for the illustrations and photographs he has produced for clients including the New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Esquire, Levi’s, Miramax. Sony, and many others, He has had several solo shows of paintings in New York and Los Angeles. Gosfield has also art directed music videos, designed store windows for Barney’s and done installations for ESPN and the Smithsonian. His short films have shown in numerous festivals. Josh lives and works in New York City.
About the Atlantic Avenue BID
Representing over 300 businesses in Brooklyn’s vibrant Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill neighborhoods, the Atlantic Avenue BID is dedicated to promoting the Avenue’s long-term economic development thereby creating a thriving boulevard that attracts both residents and visitors to its vast array of services, shops and dining, while preserving the Avenue’s rich history and diverse character.
For more info contact: Josef Szende, Executive Director, AABID |
jszende@atlanticavebid.org | 718-734-4219