THE HYPE SUPPER
Updated: Dec 5, 2020
Late 2017, the owner of the new trendy shop in Taipei (called The Corner 33) contacted me and said they have a big light box of 5 x 2 to be filled. My first commission job in Asia.
The task was simple: impressive, 打卡位 (check-in spot) and paying tribute to the brands and designers they like. Told them I used ancient paintings before and remade them like a modern version. They liked the idea and so I was starting to look for some iconic paintings. Because of the ratio of the light box and they wanted to pay tribute to multiple brands, it was an easy pick: The Last Supper by grand master Leonardo Da Vinci.
Some facts and behind the scenes of The Hype Supper:
First triangle was placed on 20 December 2017, the last triangle on 7 January 2018. Probably used 160-200 hours to finish it;
The original size of the artwork is 502 x 201 cm;
The background is actually the interior of the shop The Corner 33 in Taiwan;
It was a tough job to select the 13 designers, but it was a harder job to select the person for the middle spot;
Kanye West was the first person drawn behind the table with a different face. I needed to train making faces... so after 2 attempts Kanye is now how Kanye looks like in the piece;
2 of my other work are also in this piece as decoration. Did this before at <The bedroom of Vincent van Hype>;
The Neighborhood Monkey incense chamber on the table is one of the decoration in the shop;
The persons who are sitting on the long side of the table are actually sitting on an invisible bench 😂 (don’t challenge me on this. I actually do have a design in my mind that fits this piece 🤣);
Personally I am most satisfied with Jerry Lorenzo, Tom Sachs and Ronnie Fieg;
Toughest job: skin color of each person;
Takashi Murakami was invited for the table but was replaced by Brian Donelli (Kaws). Reason: the table and setup couldn’t handle to much flowers and colors;
Actually... I only knew half of the invited designers from the table 😂. Needed to do a lot of research before drawing them...
From left to right:
Hiroshi Fujiwara (Fragment) / Jerry Lorenzo (Fear of God) / Kanye West (Yeezy) / Samuel Ross (The Cold Wall) / Heron Preston (Heron Preston) / Virgil Abloh (Off-White) / Tom Sachs / Nigo (BAPE) / Pharrell Williams (Human Made) / Bryan Donnelly (Kaws) / Edison Chen (Clot) / Ronnie Fieg (Kith) / Ryo Ishikawa (FR2 / fxxkingrabbits)
Media release: