— Street-art artist Alex Monopoly becomes TAG Heuer’s art provocateur.
To coincide with Miami Contemporary Art week, Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of TAG Heuer and President of the LVMH Watch Division, has announced the appointment of ultra-hot American artist Alec Monopoly as Art Provocateur for watch brand.
Sporting a hat, with his face always hidden behind a bandana to preserve his anonymity; but what is he famous for? Well, Alec Monopoly owes his fame to the character who shares his name. Mr. Monopoly, the diminutive and debonair banker that the artist depicts in different scenarios.
"When I started out, I did my graffiti in New York. The city was a huge source of inspiration". In 2008, he quit the Big Apple for California. This was the year that the financial markets crashed. The subprime crisis, Wall Street, Bernard Madoff... The finance world experienced its darkest days. And this found its echo in Alec's work. His career took off. "This was my way of making a statement about what was happening." His work started to gain an online following amongst street art aficionados. People started to call him Alec Monopoly.
Since then, he has depicted the little banker in every conceivable situation... His rich, colourful works using this character – known throughout the world – are filled with humour. In the meantime, Alec Monopoly has turned his focus towards recontextualising other icons of popular culture. Scrooge McDuck, Richie Rich...
With success, his relationship with painting has changed. "I was crazy when I was young. I graffitied trains, buildings..." Has time tamed Mr. Monopoly? Not really. "I am still a graffiti addict. I still have this need to quickly graffiti something any time I get the chance. Street painting remains my true passion."
A few months ago, Jean-Claude Biver suggested that Alec became not only the "Art Provocateur" for the watch brand he is CEO of, to imbue it with his creativity – but also to start to express himself in a different way, in the street, by tagging the TAG Heuer boutique located in the very heart of Miami's Design District, as part of the artistic ambiance of the famous Contemporary Art Week.
Jean-Claude Biver commented: "To be the first, to be unique and different, has been my philosophy for the last 40 years. With Alec as Art Provocateur within my team at TAG Heuer, I would like not only to continue to reconnect the brand with the younger generation, the millenials, but also to pave the way for new areas of expression, in all domains from the products to marketing and communication to distribution….His unconventional creativity and enthusiasm are contagious!"
Sporting a hat, with his face always hidden behind a bandana to preserve his anonymity; but what is he famous for? Well, Alec Monopoly owes his fame to the character who shares his name. Mr. Monopoly, the diminutive and debonair banker that the artist depicts in different scenarios.
"When I started out, I did my graffiti in New York. The city was a huge source of inspiration". In 2008, he quit the Big Apple for California. This was the year that the financial markets crashed. The subprime crisis, Wall Street, Bernard Madoff... The finance world experienced its darkest days. And this found its echo in Alec's work. His career took off. "This was my way of making a statement about what was happening." His work started to gain an online following amongst street art aficionados. People started to call him Alec Monopoly.
Alec Monopoly. © TAG Heuer
With success, his relationship with painting has changed. "I was crazy when I was young. I graffitied trains, buildings..." Has time tamed Mr. Monopoly? Not really. "I am still a graffiti addict. I still have this need to quickly graffiti something any time I get the chance. Street painting remains my true passion."
A few months ago, Jean-Claude Biver suggested that Alec became not only the "Art Provocateur" for the watch brand he is CEO of, to imbue it with his creativity – but also to start to express himself in a different way, in the street, by tagging the TAG Heuer boutique located in the very heart of Miami's Design District, as part of the artistic ambiance of the famous Contemporary Art Week.
The TAG Heuer boutique located in the very heart of Miami's Design District. © Replica TAG Heuer
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