Broadway between 41st and 49th Streets
New York, NY
Start:
Mar 1, 2025
End:
Mar 31, 2025
Nightly, 11:57pm – 12am
View Public Programming
Broadway between 41st and 49th Streets
New York, NY
Start:
Mar 1, 2025
End:
Mar 31, 2025
Nightly, 11:57pm – 12am
View Public Programming
Presented with Art on the Mart
Working at the intersection of visual art, performance, and architecture, Brendan Fernandes transforms the screens of Times Square into a technicolor dance space. In Build Up the House II, silhouettes of dancers leap, spin, and vogue across vibrant, pulsing compositions inspired by the artist’s East African heritage. The brightly colored patterns and rhythms of the dancers are also an homage to house music, honoring the genre’s queer and POC roots along with its legacy of providing spaces of safe haven, creative expression, and solidarity for those communities since the late 1970s.
A communal celebration of identity through dance and assembly, Build Up the House II also mirrors the broader spirit of Times Square itself, a gathering place for New Yorkers and visitors from all over the world, and a spectacular choreography of people, lights, and moving images.
Born in Nairobi; an immigrant to Canada and then New York City; and currently based in Chicago, Fernandes incorporates all of his lived experiences into his practice with a particular focus on themes of race, migration, and movement. Build Up the House II is a monumental mark of the artist’s efforts to merge new and storied narratives under a unified display of dance, heritage, and communal renewal both on the screen and in the streets.
The original iteration of this work, Build Up the House, was commissioned by ART on the MART, and presented in fall of 2024 with an accompanying house music soundscape by Chicago-based producer Sean J. Wright.
PROJECT CREDITS
Build Up The House II: Brendan Fernandes
Original Music for Art on the Mart: Shaun J Wright
Produced by: Domenic Del Carmine
Dancer: Katlin Michael Bourgeois
Dancer: Lieana Sherry
Animation & Production: Daily Planet Productions, Ltd.
Animator: Tim Berthiaume
Animator: Mike Pindara
Animator: JC Tecklenburg
Presented with Art on the Mart
Working at the intersection of visual art, performance, and architecture, Brendan Fernandes transforms the screens of Times Square into a technicolor dance space. In Build Up the House II, silhouettes of dancers leap, spin, and vogue across vibrant, pulsing compositions inspired by the artist’s East African heritage. The brightly colored patterns and rhythms of the dancers are also an homage to house music, honoring the genre’s queer and POC roots along with its legacy of providing spaces of safe haven, creative expression, and solidarity for those communities since the late 1970s.
A communal celebration of identity through dance and assembly, Build Up the House II also mirrors the broader spirit of Times Square itself, a gathering place for New Yorkers and visitors from all over the world, and a spectacular choreography of people, lights, and moving images.
Born in Nairobi; an immigrant to Canada and then New York City; and currently based in Chicago, Fernandes incorporates all of his lived experiences into his practice with a particular focus on themes of race, migration, and movement. Build Up the House II is a monumental mark of the artist’s efforts to merge new and storied narratives under a unified display of dance, heritage, and communal renewal both on the screen and in the streets.
The original iteration of this work, Build Up the House, was commissioned by ART on the MART, and presented in fall of 2024 with an accompanying house music soundscape by Chicago-based producer Sean J. Wright.
PROJECT CREDITS
Build Up The House II: Brendan Fernandes
Original Music for Art on the Mart: Shaun J Wright
Produced by: Domenic Del Carmine
Dancer: Katlin Michael Bourgeois
Dancer: Lieana Sherry
Animation & Production: Daily Planet Productions, Ltd.
Animator: Tim Berthiaume
Animator: Mike Pindara
Animator: JC Tecklenburg
ART on THE MART, presented in partnership with Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), is one of the world’s largest digital art platforms that transforms an architectural landmark into a permanent, larger-than-life canvas. A shining example of Chicago’s long-standing commitment to public art, ART on THE MART brings cutting-edge video mapping techniques to Chicago’s Riverwalk, displaying projections of contemporary art across the 2.5-acre façade of THE MART, the largest privately held commercial building in the United States, internationally recognized as a global innovator in culture, design, and technology. ART on THE MART presents pioneering moving image work by renowned local, national, and international interdisciplinary artists. The program has commissioned work by celebrated names like Derrick Adams, Charles Atlas, Nick Cave, Barbara Kruger, and more, alongside projections by Chicago-based artists and local partner organizations, from the Joffrey Ballet, the Art Institute of Chicago and The Adler Planetarium to the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project and Chicago Public Schools. ART on THE MART amplifies the expressions of the broadest range of artists and partners to realize the power of public art and inspire positive community engagement along the river, throughout Chicago, and beyond. Founded in 2018, the program is a result of a 30-year commitment by THE MART owner Vornado Realty Trust, in close collaboration with the City of Chicago, with a shared goal to provide public access to innovative contemporary art to the thousands of visitors traversing the Chicago Riverwalk each day. Founded in 2018, the program is a result of a 30-year commitment by THE MART owner Vornado Realty Trust, in close collaboration with the City of Chicago, with a shared goal to provide public access to innovative contemporary art to the thousands of visitors traversing the Chicago Riverwalk each day.
Support for Midnight Moment is provided in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; and the Times Square Advertising Coalition, with additional in-kind support from the Times Square EDITION Hotel. Midnight Moment is made possible by the Times Square Advertising Coalition, ABC SuperSign, American Eagle, Big Outdoor, Branded Cities, Clear Channel, Coca-Cola, Diversified, Express, Heritage Outdoor Media, Levi's, LG, Line Friends, McDonald's, Microsoft, Midtown Financial, Morgan Stanley, New Tradition, Outfront, Paramount, Prudential, Sensory Interactive, Sephora, Sherwood Equities, Show + Tell, Silvercast, Swatch, TSX, and T-Mobile.
Broadway between 41st and 49th Streets
New York, NY
Nightly, 11:57pm – 12am
Build Up the House II (2024), still images courtesy of the Artist, Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago, and Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC.
Brendan Fernandes (b. 1979, Nairobi, Kenya) is an internationally recognized Canadian artist working at the intersection of dance and visual arts. Currently based out of Chicago, Fernandes’s projects address issues of race, queer culture, migration, protest and other forms of collective movement. Always looking to create new spaces and new forms of agency, Fernandes’s projects take on hybrid forms: part Ballet, part queer dance party, part political protest...always rooted in collaboration and fostering solidarity. Brendan is a graduate of the Whitney Independent Study Program (2007) and a recipient of a Robert Rauschenberg Fellowship (2014). In 2010, he was shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award, and is the recipient of a prestigious 2017 Canada Council New Chapters grant. Brendan is also the recipient of the Platform Award (2024), the Artadia Award (2019), a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (2020) and a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant (2019). His projects have shown at the 2019 Whitney Biennial (New York); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York); the Museum of Modern Art (New York); The Getty Museum (Los Angeles); the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa); MAC (Montreal); among a great many others. He is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University and is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago and Susan Inglett Gallery in New York. Recent and upcoming projects include performances and solo presentations at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, MO; The MCA Denver, Denver, Colorado; The Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia, PA; and Prospect 6, New Orleans, LO.
The artist is co-represented by Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago and Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC.
Learn More About
Brendan Fernandes
Brendan Fernandes (b. 1979, Nairobi, Kenya) is an internationally recognized Canadian artist working at the intersection of dance and visual arts. Currently based out of Chicago, Fernandes’s projects address issues of race, queer culture, migration, protest and other forms of collective movement. Always looking to create new spaces and new forms of agency, Fernandes’s projects take on hybrid forms: part Ballet, part queer dance party, part political protest...always rooted in collaboration and fostering solidarity. Brendan is a graduate of the Whitney Independent Study Program (2007) and a recipient of a Robert Rauschenberg Fellowship (2014). In 2010, he was shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award, and is the recipient of a prestigious 2017 Canada Council New Chapters grant. Brendan is also the recipient of the Platform Award (2024), the Artadia Award (2019), a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (2020) and a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant (2019). His projects have shown at the 2019 Whitney Biennial (New York); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York); the Museum of Modern Art (New York); The Getty Museum (Los Angeles); the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa); MAC (Montreal); among a great many others. He is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University and is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago and Susan Inglett Gallery in New York. Recent and upcoming projects include performances and solo presentations at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, MO; The MCA Denver, Denver, Colorado; The Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia, PA; and Prospect 6, New Orleans, LO.
The artist is co-represented by Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago and Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC.
Learn More About
Brendan Fernandes
Brendan Fernandes (b. 1979, Nairobi, Kenya) is an internationally recognized Canadian artist working at the intersection of dance and visual arts. Currently based out of Chicago, Fernandes’s projects address issues of race, queer culture, migration, protest and other forms of collective movement. Always looking to create new spaces and new forms of agency, Fernandes’s projects take on hybrid forms: part Ballet, part queer dance party, part political protest...always rooted in collaboration and fostering solidarity. Brendan is a graduate of the Whitney Independent Study Program (2007) and a recipient of a Robert Rauschenberg Fellowship (2014). In 2010, he was shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award, and is the recipient of a prestigious 2017 Canada Council New Chapters grant. Brendan is also the recipient of the Platform Award (2024), the Artadia Award (2019), a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (2020) and a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant (2019). His projects have shown at the 2019 Whitney Biennial (New York); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York); the Museum of Modern Art (New York); The Getty Museum (Los Angeles); the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa); MAC (Montreal); among a great many others. He is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University and is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago and Susan Inglett Gallery in New York. Recent and upcoming projects include performances and solo presentations at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, MO; The MCA Denver, Denver, Colorado; The Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia, PA; and Prospect 6, New Orleans, LO.
The artist is co-represented by Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago and Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC.
Learn More About
Brendan Fernandes