Located at 26 Fulton Street at the South Street Seaport, Experience The Times of Bill Cunningham transports viewers into the vibrant world of famed street photographer Bill Cunningham. Cunningham gained fame for his photographs of both everyday people and world-renowned personalities such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Anna Wintour and Andy Warhol at fashion shows, social events, and on the streets of New York City. Launching September 12 for Fashion Week, Experience The Times of Bill Cunningham will run through October 30, 2021. Tickets are $30 but we have a limited number of tickets available free to Untapped New York Insiders!
To bring the photographer’s work to life, Experience The Times of Bill Cunningham will feature large-scale reproductions of Cunningham’s most iconic photos, videos and audio interviews. The exhibition will feature artifacts such as Cunningham’s iconic Biria bicycle and his trademark blue french worker’s jacket.
The Times of Bill Cunningham
Across two stories, 18,000 square feet and six distinct faces, the exhibit will center a grand staircase where guests’ outfits will be digitally transformed into a one-of-a-kind fashion statement. A gallery will reveal links between the fashion trends in Cunningham’s work and today’s latest street styles. Guests can also pose on a simulated city crosswalk just like the subjects in Cunningham’s works or relax on a bench of milk crates and a foam mattress — a nod to his bed in his Carnegie Hall studio.
The exhibit is inspired by The Times of Bill Cunningham, a 2020 documentary by Mark Bozek and hailed by the Hollywood Reporter as being “a snapshot of a life that leaves you grateful for having encountered it.” Bozek tells Untapped New York, “The exhibit aims to capture the relentless curiosity, energy, and discovery that made Bill Cunningham one of the world’s most influential documentarians, historians, and culture-makers. We hope that visitors experience the same sense of exploration that made Bill such a remarkable chronicler of both New York City and its style for more than six decades.”
Experience The Times of Bill Cunningham was designed by NBBJ’s New York Experience design studio, ESI Design and co-presented by Live Rocket Studio founded by Bozek, Creative Edge Parties and Blue Note Entertainment Group. Admission is $30, and tickets may be purchased online at timesofbill.com.
“Like many New Yorkers, I hoped to one day catch Bill Cunningham on a street corner as he paused on his bike and snapped a quick photo,” said Layne Braunstein, leader, creative at ESI Design, an NBBJ studio. “We designed an immersive experience that recreates Bill’s work and honors his relentless curiosity and energy. As you step into Experience the Times of Bill Cunningham, you will sense what it was like to be photographed by Bill, and how his photographs intimately reflected the woven fabric of the day’s fashion, politics, and city life. Across two floors and several dynamic experiences, fashion- and culture-lovers alike will learn how Bill’s passion developed over six decades to influence the world, and how the world in turn influenced Cunningham.”
Become an Untapped New York Insider today to visit Experience The Times of Bill Cunningham for free. Get your first month of membership free with code JOINUS.
Next, check out 16 New Public Art Installations in NYC September 2021!