The physical show is on view at Hudson Park Library from June 4 through July 5, 2024
Exhibition Opening: June 15, 2–4 PM
Hudson Park Library invites audiences to its newest public exhibition featuring community artists whose work encourages engagement with the public. “Spreading Love” is a street art project that spanned many areas of New York City to date. The project’s origins trace back to 2020, to the first wave of the Coronavirus pandemic in NYC. To mitigate the emotional and health toll of the virus on the public, the Viral-Love symbol was created to inspire anyone who came into contact with it to feel loved and to be kind to one another. Initially, the design was only meant to exist as an outdoor PSA poster. However, following destructive nationwide social unrest by the Summer, the symbol mutated into a bigger mission. The large stencil painting first appeared on the boarded-up storefronts in SoHo and eventually spread across other city neighborhoods. Several years in, and many variants later, the Viral-Love now pops up at the Hudson Park Library! This exhibit showcases a selection of photographs and mixed media pieces, capturing the symbol in the wild, artist at work, public’s reactions, tools used, and an original mural panel from the Museum of Ice Cream storefront, from 2020. Included also is the only existing iteration of the symbol as a light collage, that was inspired by the history and the neighborhood of the Hudson Park Library, and can be viewed at its 7th Avenue South window.
TIMUR is a Brooklyn-based independent multidisciplinary artist. He was born in Uzbekistan and immigrated as a teenager to NYC, where he was accepted into the acclaimed Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts, majoring in Fine Art. Upon graduation, he attended the School of Visual Arts with a focus on Graphic Arts and Advertising. The experience of fusing Fine Art fundamentals and Design aesthetics formed a unique way in which he approaches his work. Throughout the years, his work garnered several honors and awards. His early sculpture work is on permanent outdoor display at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C., while his current work is in several museums and private collections.
