Times Sq-42 St (1/2/3/7/N/Q/R/W/S)

Revelers

Jane Dickson
Artwork in glass mosaic by Jane Dickson showing 70 expressive life size figures throughout the lower mezzanine and 41st Street passage in the Times Square station complex.
“Revelers” (2008) by Jane Dickson at Times Sq-42 St. Photo: Thierry Gourjon

About the project

It's been said that if you stand long enough in Times Square, you will meet everyone you've ever known. Long known as the crossroads of the world, Times Square is famous for many things, but mostly for its crowds, particularly the spirited celebration each New Year's Eve when hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and visitors, joined by television viewers around the world, gather to watch the ball drop to usher in the New Year. Sharing hopes for the future, the huge crowds are televised against a neon background. 

In "Revelers," Jane Dickson celebrates this age-old impulse to gather. Her mosaic artwork consists of approximately 70 expressive life-size figures. Each is in motion, walking, gesturing, linking arms, or dancing; all enjoying themselves and each other's company. The central frieze of figures is presaged by a scattering of figures in groups of two or three walking in both directions along the corridors that lead to the central open space of the station complex, near the stairs to the  lines. These smaller groups share the space with commuters traveling through the passageways that connect the subway stations at Seventh and Eighth Avenues. 

About the artist

Jane Dickson received her B.A. at Harvard University and a Studio Diploma from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She is known for her dark iconic images that examine "the constructed world, and its psychological freight, the social structuring of desire and its disruption by the uncanny.” She frequently works with unusual surfaces such as Astroturf, sandpaper, vinyl, or carpet to exploit the implicit references and the textural possibilities these materials offer. Exhibitions of her work have been shown at major museum including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Portrait Gallery. Dickson lives and works in New York City.