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Keds Sneakers Become Art in Collaboration with Whitney Museum, Bloomingdale's

By DNAinfo Staff on July 13, 2010 7:24am

By Jennifer Glickel

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MIDTOWN EAST — Three seemingly disparate institutions, Bloomingdale's, Keds, and the Whitney Museum, have joined forces to sell hight art to the masses in the form of footwear.

As sponsors of the Whitney Museum of American Art’s summer season, Keds has launched the KedsWhitney shoe collection, consisting of sneakers designed by conceptual artist Jenny Holzer. The high-art kicks will be on sale at Bloomingdale’s stores in Midtown and SoHo.

Holzer, who is known for using projections and LED displays in her art, used text images from her 1980s “Survival” series to create the limited edition shoes. Each pair features one or more words from one of Holzer's most famous phrases: "Protect Me From What I Want."

In addition to selling the artist-designed sneakers, through July 21 the flagship store’s iconic Lexington Avenue windows will serve as studio space for three MFA students who were chosen to make Keds-inspired artwork. The results will be showcased at “Whitney Live,” a Friday night music series happening at the museum through the summer.

Passersby can watch the artists at work and also create their own designs. Touch screen LCD monitors embedded in the windows and facing the street allow pedestrians to create their own custom Keds. Participants can e-mail designs to themselves right from the touch screen window panel and buy their new shoes from home.

“This is really a very unique collaboration because the Whitney, like every cultural institution, is looking for new ways to market to their supporters and reach a younger audience and creating wearable art is a perfect way of doing that," said Anne Keating, Bloomingdale's Senior Vice President of Public Relations, Special Events and Corporate Philanthropy.