Emerging Stratford artist has piece displayed above Times Square as part of NYC exhibition
Stratford artist and Grade 11 student at Etobicoke School of the Arts Daniel Rusen-Steele currently has a piece on rotating display on a giant billboard over New York City's Times Square as part of Art Innovation Gallery's international The Pixels Show exhibition.
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A Stratford artist and Grade 11 student at the Etobicoke School of the Arts has a piece on display above New York City’s Times Square as part of Art Innovation Gallery’s The Pixels Show exhibition that features artwork by digital artists from around the world.
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Daniel Rusen-Steele, known on social media as @danoja_, is one of more than 50 digital artists from 30 countries around the world whose work is on rotating display on one of two massive billboards perched over the iconic Big Apple landmark during the Milan, Italy-based digital art gallery’s innovative exhibition.
“I found the gallery through an artist I follow, so I started following the gallery on social media and they had an open call for artists to send in their portfolios,” Rusen-Steele said. “I emailed them my portfolio and they responded to me saying I was accepted.”
According to a press release issued by Art Innovation Gallery, the work on display was selected based on the artists’ use of advanced technology like artificial intelligence, vector graphics, pixel art and3D graphic effects rather than traditional artistic techniques. The exhibition, which closes May 21, also features pieces by some of the world’s most influential crypto artists most commonly known for their work on NFTs (non fungible tokens).
“My art is primarily digital,” Rusen-Steele said. “My art style has kind of shifted over this year. I started experimenting with digital art and photography and trying to blend traditional art and digital art. I distort and I warp photos together and digitally paint over them. The goal with my art right now is to use photos, but make it hard to tell photos are being used. It’s kind of a like a collage, but kind of done in a different way. Right now, I’m also printing my digital art on canvas and painting over it to add another layer to it.”
While Rusen-Steele experiments with new and traditional techniques, the piece that was selected for The Pixels Show, Community 1/6, was created entirely using digital art tools.
“I made this piece a while ago and I did end up making more in the series, but this was at a time when I was kind of experimenting a lot. … I was going with a theme of community. … When I was going through my pieces for the show, I thought that one would stand out well on the billboard and I like the theme and message behind it. … Often times, I don’t think about a meaning before creating a piece. I wouldn’t say that my art has no meaning. I go with kind of what I’m feeling and I let my intuition and my feelings guide my choices. … Coming to Etobicoke School of the Arts; here there’s a lot of community.
Being surrounded by a bunch of artists and my teachers has really pushed me to be a better artist. Being surrounded by so many people with similar interests and passions has been unbelievable,” he said.
To celebrate his art being displayed in such a high-profile location, Rusen-Steele travelled to New York City on Thursday for a three-night stay, so he can take in the exhibition, see his work in all its glory, appreciate some of the art at the ongoing Frieze New York international art fair, and take some time to consider his future career as an artist.
“Having my piece on display in Times Square is super motivating,” he said. “Being in high school, I’m deciding what I want to do with my life and it makes me feel like I can pursue art in some way or another. It’s a possibility for my future. … I just want to talk to different galleries and people while I’m (in New York) and see what happens.
“I’m also visiting different schools there. I have a portfolio review with Pratt (Institute), so I’m going to just try to get as much as I can out of this opportunity.”
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