Posters by Dublin artists Maxi McDonnell and Faye Larkin were selected among two dozen works by international artists for the new WE LOVE NYC campaign, which draws inspiration from the iconic "I LOVE NY" logo created in the 1970s.
McDonnell, who had two works selected for the campaign, traveled to New York to see his two posters in person and said he felt "goosebumps" when he saw the poster all over the city.
"I came here thinking it’s going to be maybe on a couple of those slide poster sites. We walked into Times Square – it’s everywhere," McDonnell told the Irish Times.
McDonnell's two posters and Larkin's one poster will hang in Macy's department store in Midtown Manhattan for six weeks, while copies of the posters will be erected on streets throughout New York's five boroughs.
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Entitled "Heartzilla," McDonnell's two posters center around a giant floating heart, with one poster depicting a heart floating near the Chrysler Building and the other showing a giant heart above the Flatiron Building.
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Larkin's "NYC Touch" poster, meanwhile, attempts to capture the diverse characters that makeup New York City, featuring a wide variety of different hands.
"I decided to draw the hands of real New Yorkers," Larkin wrote on Instagram.
"Whether they are distractedly picking at their nails, lovingly holding a partner's hand, hurriedly writing a to-do list on their palm, or resting their hands calmly on their lap you can really see the characters that exist within the city.
"Boldly personal and unashamedly genuine this poster speaks to New Yorkers directly from the hands of New Yorkers."
Larkin noted the project was "mad f---ing fun to do."
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The WE LOVE NYC campaign was unveiled by local government, business, and labor leaders to help boost the city's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and a wide range of local leaders and business owners launched the campaign in March to ensure that "New York remains the best city in the world."
The campaign draws inspiration from Milton Glaser's "I LOVE NY" from the 1970s, which used a heart-shaped motto to inspire optimism and pride in New York during a time of economic crisis and rising crime.
However, the new campaign has received significant criticism from locals, who have questioned the need to reinvent Glaser's original logo. Others mocked the logo's heart being off-center in the new posters.
McDonnell, however, shrugged off the criticism and said it is apt for a New York campaign to create a lot of debate.
"It’s created a lot of debate, it wouldn’t be New York if it didn’t. It’s controversial," McDonnell told the Irish Times.
"It’s just an attitude, there’s a real attitude in Dublin as well. It’s edgy, and New York definitely is the same."
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