John Stango (born August 9, 1958) is an American pop artist.

Biography

Born and raised in urban

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Stango attended

Tyler School of Art The Tyler School of Art and Architecture is based at Temple University, a large, urban, public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tyler currently enrolls about 1,350 undergraduate students and about 200 graduate students in a wid ...

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Graphic Design. After graduation, Stango was hired by

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

and

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a div ...

department stores as a visual merchandiser and display artist. Later, Stango began to create

silk screen Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open me ...

T-shirts. Eventually he turned his attention and energy to painting full-time. Currently he works out of a historic warehouse outside of Philadelphia. Stango paints in the vein of such artists as

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein,

LeRoy Neiman LeRoy Neiman (born LeRoy Leslie Runquist, June 8, 1921 – June 20, 2012) was an American artist known for his brilliantly colored, expressionist paintings and screenprints of athletes, musicians, and sporting events. Early life Neiman was ...

, and

Peter Max Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein, October 19, 1937) is a German-American artist known for using bright colors in his work. Works by Max are associated with the visual arts and culture of the 1960s, particularly psychedelic art and pop art. ...

. Newspapers, retro advertising, pop icons, B-movies, mid-century modernism, magazines, noir films, vintage signage and pop-culture inspire his works. Batman and

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

, Audrey Hepburn and

Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Throughout their 150 year history, Lucky Strike has had fluctuating ...

, and Mickey Mouse and

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Feb ...

are some of the well-known subjects of Stango's paintings.

Career

His paintings are shown in galleries across America, as well as in other countries including Sweden and Japan. His work has been purchased by a number of notable individuals such as

Nicole Miller Nicole Miller is an American fashion designer and businesswoman. Miller attended the Rhode Island School of Design where she earned a BFA in Apparel Design. She studied for a year at L'Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture ParisienneBal ...

, Allen Iverson, Adam Marks in 2003, and

Governor Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philad ...

, and

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the ag ...

. In addition to selling his art, John also engages in philanthropy, using his paintings and proceeds to benefit charities. Washington Post arts reporter Mark Jenkins wrote in a July 18, 2015 article, "In the world that Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein wrought, is it still possible to be a pop artist? Some may doubt it, but not John Stango." Jenkins draws out the similarities and differences between Stango's work and the works of his biggest influences. "Stango depicts such mid-'60s idols as John F. Kennedy, Muhammad Ali and Marilyn Monroe – as well as superheroes and commercial insignias – with a mixture of reverence and giddiness," Jenkins writes. "Where Warhol did Brillo boxes and Campbell's soup cans, his successor goes for Cadillac, Chanel, Abolut – and Campbell's soup cans." Stango's mother, Frances Rockwell, and his cousin, famed American artist Norman Rockwell, would be proud.

Stewardess series

These works depict retro stewardess, employing such titles as "The Stewardess", Playgirl After Dark", "Southern Comfort". Most are titled after current day stewardess, notably Wendy, Judi, Ginger, Mimi, Buttercup, Kori, and Patrick (depicted as a female in the painting and dedicated to a cross-dressing steward ss. Judi was painted in honor of Judi Martino, a true '50s and '60s stewardess and the wife of singer

Al Martino Al Martino (born Jasper Cini; October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009) was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop croone ...

. John plans to continue this series especially following the popularity of ABC's ''

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

''.

References

External links

Official Website of John Stango

Official Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stango, John American pop artists 1958 births Living people