NEW YORK, Nov 19, 2008 / FW/ — With Madonna rocking out with classic Ray-Ban Wayfarers on her ‘Sticky & Sweet’ Tour, New York artist Chris Mendoza has been commissioned to custom-paint 100 pairs of Wayfarers for Ray-Ban’s New Artist Series.
Just in time for the holiday season, you can own or give as a gift a pair of sunglasses, which is also a work of art. With the Ray-Ban Wayfarers as his canvas, Chris Mendoza who is known for his signature spiky, angular symbols that blend the natural and mystical folklore of his childhood and the density and chaos of daily urban life.
Born in Nicaragua, Chris Mendoza immigrated to the U.S. with his family when he was a tween. In the 1980s, his family settled at the Bronx, where Chris developed an artistic style that combined architectural draftsmanship he learned from his father with the new inspirations of letters, faces, and forms that then covered the subways of New York City.
His artistic talent had been recognized worldwide, with exhibitions at the Museo de Arte, San Juan; White Box Gallery, New York; Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem; Transport Gallery, Los Angeles; and Dyezu-Exp Gallery, Tokyo.
“My artwork is a reflection of my everyday observations around the city and sensing its motion, speed, and rhythm. Specifically, the act of seeing architecture inspires daily drawing studies of physical structures as they take on new indelible forms in my mind’s eye and around nature,” says Chris Mendoza.
On Black Friday, November 28th (day after Thanksgiving), Chris Mendoza will be at the Sunglass Hut SoHo location in New York hand paintings pairs of glasses. He will also paint customers a pair on site.
Sun Glass Hut will be hosting a shopping party serving gingerbread men (wearing Ray-Ban eyewear, of course) and mini popcorn balls – hot cider too!
As part of the gift giving spirit of the Holiday Season, 25% of the proceeds will be donated to the GIVE THE GIFT OF SIGHT organization, a charity that brings eye care and eyeglasses to the world’s poor including here in the US. www.givethegiftofsight.org
EVENT: Sunglass Hut Artist Series: Chris Mendoza & the Ray-Ban Wayfarer
LOCATION: Sunglass Hut SoHo, New York
DATE: Black Friday, November 28th (day after Thanksgiving)
TIME: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
The one-of-a-kind Ray-Ban Wayfarer painted by Chris Mendoza will be sold for $250 with 25% of the proceeds being donated to the Gift of Sight. Cases will be signed and numbered.
The Ray-Ban Wayfarer New Artist Series will be available online beginning December 3.
RAY-BAN WAYFARER by Chris Mendoza:
Black frames with white details
Red frames with white details
White frames with pink details
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