Art Park at The CCD gets ‘MuchLoved’ for Valentine’s Day!
DUBLIN – 14 February, 2013 - The Art Park, Dublin’s largest outdoor visual arts screen which is projected onto the rear wall of The Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD), will pay homage to Valentine’s Day and love with a free nightly open air projection of ‘MuchLoved’, a stunning photographic exhibition of images and tales of ‘MuchLoved’ teddy bears and soft toys by Dublin based portrait and advertising photographer, Mark Nixon.
“We are really thrilled with this projection,” said Art Park curator Sarah Owens, “the images are beautifully photographed, very funny and heartwarming. They tap into universal emotions and that is their appeal. I highly encourage a visit down here for either a good laugh or just to have a simple and free romantic moment.”
Valentine’s Day will also mark the signing of a major international publishing deal between Mark Nixon and America’s preeminent arts and illustrated book publishers, Abrams, which will see ‘MuchLoved’ internationally published this Autumn.
The success of ‘MuchLoved’ has somewhat bemused the Dublin based photographer as, what began as a photographic portrait of his 10-year old son Calum ‘s Peter Rabbit, subsequently developed into a series of photographs and stories featuring much loved teddy bears and other soft toys belonging to a myriad of owners - from Gerry Ryan to Rowan Atkinson, and from children to adults of all ages.
Within a week of being launched at his Dublin based studio, the images had become an international web sensation, gathering over 4 million hits within twelve weeks and featuring in a myriad of international media outlets and major international blog sites.
‘MuchLoved’ came to notice of publishing house Abrams and the forthcoming book will feature additional images of both national and international ‘MuchLoved’ teddies and soft toys. The public is also invited to send images of their own loved ones for possible book inclusion to info@marknixon.com by the end of February.
Projected onto the rear wall of The CCD, The Art Park was created as a community, public art and recreational space for the purposes of a local, national and international contemporary visual arts programme. ‘MuchLoved’ will run nightly as a free15 minute loop projection from dusk to 1am until the end of February.