Billy The Artist (BTA), the Manhattan-based creator, says this year’s CowParade feels like a homecoming.
Cows will be looking to keep the city moo-ving come August during the return of the famed CowParade.
The public art event dates back to 2000, when a three-month display of ceramic cows helped bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars for New York City non-profits like God’s Love We Deliver, this year’s primary sponsor.
Colorful cows will be on view from August through September at Industry City, where 75 different artists from around the world are currently putting the finishing touches on their not-so-livestock. At the end, the carefully curated cows are put out to pasture — and sold by auction to the highest bidder.
Though CowParade began in New York, organizers say they’ve gone on to stage another 90-plus public art exhibits in 34 countries worldwide. To date, more than 6,000 life-size fiberglass cows have been transformed by countless creators, and this summer marks CowParade’s 100th international event.
Billy The Artist, a creator who has participated in the CowParade since its first Moo York Celebration, said the show’s stars were chosen for their playful but gentle nature.
“Cows were our chosen animal of choice because they are seen as whimsical, quirky and never threatening,” he said.
“I painted the first cow to be presented in the first CowParade 20 years ago,” he told Brooklyn Paper. “I am happy to be back and help such a wonderful organization.”
Billy The Artist
Billy The Artist (BTA) is an internationally renowned artist whose studio is based in the East Village of New York City. His projects and designs have been seen all over the world for such clients and global brands as Swatch, Nescafe, The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Museum, Lamborghini, Gibson Guitar, Smart Car, Suzuki, Hyundai, Toyota, Mountain Dew, MTV, Puma, Microsoft, Chock Full O Nuts, Vans shoes, New Balance shoes, Cow Parade, race car driver Danica Patrick, Fashion Week Athens, Vienna, Madrid, Design Week Milan as well as his own product line with Goebel worldwide.
Mural projects include Woodstock 99, Art Basel Miami, Casa Décor Miami, Delaguarda, The Rio Casino Las Vegas, numerous buildings in New York and Switzerland and the Broadway, National, and London productions of the musical RENT. His paintings have hung at the prestigious Forbes Gallery, The Armory as well as galleries in New York, Hamburg, Tokyo, South Korea, Mexico City, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, New Orleans, Austin, Cleveland, Carib Fine Art in Curacao, Minsheng Art Museum Shanghai, Surge Art Fair Shanghai, Foxx Galerie Zurich, and The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. Billy has been published in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Elle, US Weekly, Juxtapoz, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, and numerous other magazines and newspapers around the globe.
Billy The Artist has appeared on MTV, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, TLC, DISCOVERY, 60 MINUTES and other feature programs all over the world. For the world launch of Billy’s watches for Swatch, he painted a 40×30 foot mural live in front of 30,000 people while 300 foot animated projections of his work adorned the walls of Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy during the Venice Biennale. BTA was also one of the first American artists to be allowed by the Chinese government to paint live on the famous Bund in Shanghai.
Philanthropic projects include work with The American Red Cross, The Fresh Air Fund, Covenant House, St. Mary’s Foundation for Children, The JCC of Manhattan, The Breathe Foundation Brazil, and various schools both in the U.S and abroad.