Artwork by young Zimbabwean digital artist Nyasha Warambwa, who goes by the name Huliodraws on Instagram and ykhulio on Twitter recently made it to a digital billboard at Times Square in New York City.
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment center, and neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue. Brightly lit by numerous billboards and advertisements, it stretches from West 42nd to West 47th Streets.
Also this week, American rapper, singer, and songwriter Famous Dex released a six song project "Say what you want" whose cover art was designed by the young Zimbabwean artist. The music project includes appearances from Yung Bans, Guapocheese, Dc2trill, and Meesh Thomas.
Fans of the artist took to social media to give him his flowers and appreciate the work he’s put into his artistry.
"After my piece titled “we’ll meet again” made its rounds on social media, it got noticed by this amazing person called on Billboardbaby on Instagram, she liked the painting so much that she offered to put it up for me on a billboard in Times Square free of charge." Nyasha said in a conversation with Greedysouth, describing one of the coolest moments of the year thus far
The piece is currently listed for sale as an NFT
Literally Started drawing a year ago....Today I’m on a billboard in TIME SQUARE NEW YORK😳🤯❤️
— 𝖍𝖚𝖑𝖎𝖔 (@ykhulio) May 18, 2021
Zim to the world🇿🇼🇿🇼 pic.twitter.com/kTU0wWbK0M
Times Square is one of the world's most visited tourist attractions, drawing an estimated 50 million visitors annually. Approximately 330,000 people pass through Times Square daily, many of them tourists, while over 460,000 pedestrians walk through Times Square on its busiest days.
According to Investopedia, It costs between $1.1 and $4 million a year to buy advertising space in Times Square. In contrast, a Times Square billboard cost for a day can start at $5000 and go up to well over $50,000. Moreover, it can cost up to $3 million per month to advertise on Time Square's largest billboard.
"Yung Bino (Famous Dex's artist), reached out to me for some cover art designs then introduced me to Dex. The rest is history." said Warambwa on how the artwork came about