“My mom is a classical style painter, who does oil paintings,” he notes. coating on canvas (Photo courtesy of Alec Monopoly)īorn in 1986 in New York City (where graffiti has a rich history), the college dropout has been drawing and painting for as long as he can remember, as his mother is an artist, and he began tagging from the age of 12. Sailing Away Richie, 48 x 36 cm, vintage Richie Rich comic book, acrylic, spray paint and resin. I like putting a positive message out there that makes people happy.” Graffiti is my true passion and I like seeing the reaction of people when they walk by my work and it inspires them. He divulges, “I like painting for my own happiness. Today, he has fully appropriated the character, which has come to symbolize the artist himself, representative of success and achieving one’s goals, thereby serving as a source of inspiration to young people. This led Monopoly to bring more of his creative studio artwork onto the streets, as before that he was just tagging and skateboarding. There’s the Monopoly Man behind DJ turntables, holding a can of spray paint, running off, flying away, with empty pockets, crucified by Wall Street and holding an umbrella (in reference to Hong Kong’s recent pro-democracy protests, which he witnessed firsthand). It was picked up on the Internet and in magazines, so I just went crazy with it.” It’s a Monopoly guy half-painted, and I went out on the street and just started tagging the Monopoly guy. And it hit me, it was like a light bulb and, that night, I started a canvas of a Monopoly guy that I never finished. He recalls, “I was playing Monopoly and watching the news, and I saw Bernie Madoff being arrested. The actress later visited the mural and posted a photo of it on her Twitter account (Photo courtesy of Alec Monopoly)Īfter first painting variations of the Monopoly Man in 2008 when the economy crashed as a commentary on capitalism, consumerism, corporate greed and the scandals rocking the banking industry, there was an immediate response that garnered Monopoly overnight fame as it spoke to people, and art dealers and collectors contacted him to do shows. centered around Monopoly's artistic rendition of famed actress Goldie Hawn. The Goldie mural located at 8126 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles in front of Planet Salon was created. But my artwork is based around my graffiti, so I’ll make a graffiti piece, then a canvas.” Painting on walls is more fun for me because it’s exposed to everybody, not just art collectors or enthusiasts. It’s important to do canvas work because one day the walls can be painted over or taken down, but the canvas will live on forever. He says, “If I could just paint on walls all day long, that would be all I do, but I’m not selfish with my work. His client list includes Robert De Niro, Adrien Brody, Benicio del Toro, Nobu Matsuhisa, David Blaine and Seth Rogen, and his artworks today sell for between US$20,000 and $50,000.
He has also painted on Richard Corman’s photographs of Madonna from the 1980s. So who is the real Alec Monopoly? While his true identity remains a mystery, chances are if you live in Los Angeles, New York, Miami or London, you’ve probably driven past one of his street murals featuring widely-known, wealthy pop-culture figures from childhood, like the Monopoly Man, Richie Rich or Uncle Scrooge, or his interpretations of celebrity icons such as Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Jack Nicholson, Goldie Hawn and Twiggy. But I’ve shifted my focus to doing walls where I have permission, where I can spend more time to define the piece rather than just doing stupid tags.”
It’s more about luck: at that time, a cop drives by you. “You just accept it when you start doing graffiti that it’s going to happen at some point. “I can’t count on both hands how many times I’ve been in trouble,” he relates. Aware that he could be arrested simply for putting work up in the streets, he understands that this vulnerability is all part of the game. He has done away with the bandana he usually wears as a mask to protect his anonymity when he carries out illegal street tagging, where entire cities become his temporary art galleries. When we meet, Monopoly is dressed all in black sporting long gold chains and a top hat, echoing his signature portrait of the mustached, tuxedoed Monopoly board game character he’s best identified with.
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