A Brush with Greatness: Meet America’s Pop Artist John Stango When it comes to America and art, John Stango wears his heart on his sleeve, and on his paint splattered pants and shoes, as he puts in a full day at the office – his paint-­‐speckled studio on Philadelphia’s south side. “I love America and I love life as an entertainer,” says Stango, as he swipes broad strokes of bright blue and black acrylic paint on a giant canvas featuring his latest renditions of starlets Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. “I’m a painter who’s a lot like a standup comedian with a brush,” Stango explains. “The more in your face my paintings are, the better.” His in-­‐your-­‐face, testosterone-­‐fueled style was fostered during the formative years, when he was the perennial class clown with a natural quick wit. Now it’s his explosive color palette that lures the audience in before he delivers the punchline with the signature detail, and clever whimsy of his paintings. The influences of pop art greats Andy Warhol, Peter Max, Robert Rauschenberg, Jean-­‐Michel Basquiat, and LeRoy Neiman are evident in John’s masterful work that captures iconic pop figures like only Stango can. “I really dig the whole vibe around Andy Warhol,” Stango noted. “Warhol was one of the biggest American artists of all time, and certainly one of the biggest influences on me and my brand of pop art.” Stango uses a unique combination of hand silk screening, intense brush strokes and explosions of color to create his distinctive and highly sought after paintings. His subjects range from Hollywood and political icons to sports heroes and a new spin on Americana. His iconic concept pieces that showcase some of John’s most imaginative work feature sexy bombshells, designer logos and cultural imagery in clever, one-­‐of-­‐a-­‐kind compositions. “Who else paints flowers growing from a can of baked beans,” Stango mused. “I’m not always sure where it all comes from, but the goal is to make people smile.” Stango didn’t start painting seriously until his early twenties. He excelled at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University, and he would later discover that art is literally in his blood. The artistic talents John and his late mother, Frances Elaine Rockwell, shared could be traced back to a cousin – famed American artist Norman Rockwell. “My mother was such a great painter, but she never had a chance to pursue an art career and never really talked much about our Rockwell family ties,” John explained. “I’m proud to be part of keeping a family tradition and legacy alive.” Reflecting on Rockwell As John Stango sees it, Norman Rockwell was the Andy Warhol of his time. Magazine covers were the Internet of the 1940s through the 1970s and for nearly 60 years Norman Rockwell created hundreds of cover paintings for top magazines like the Saturday Evening Post. Rockwell considered magazines to be the “greatest show window in America.” Stango and artists today have a split-­‐second window to make a big impression with their work, competing for eyeballs with films, television shows and a constant barrage of online imagery. “My paintings should grab people by their shirt,” says Stango. “And I really think my work would stop Norman Rockwell in his tracks. I have no doubt he would dig these paintings.” If Stango’s cable guy is any indication, his pop art has struck a chord with the masses. “Our cable guy came over to connect my service and just stopped and stood there in front of one of my paintings on the wall,” John recalled. “I said, ‘Hey the TV’s over here’, and he said, ‘Wow, this painting is so cool.’ He lost himself in that painting for a while,” Stango said with a chuckle. “That’s the kind of reaction I’m getting from celebrities, politicians, and just about everyone who sees these paintings.” Stango is a hardworking artist, a prolific painter much like Warhol and Rockwell were. As a result, his work is in more than a dozen galleries and hundreds of homes and businesses across the U.S. He refuses to take shortcuts, as evidenced by the handmade, hand-­‐pulled silkscreen imagery that has become a trademark of John’s cutting-­‐edge pop pieces. It’s a lost art that Stango first perfected as a young entrepreneurial art school grad fashioning silkscreen t-­‐shirts for the likes of Macy’s and Bloomindales prior to his breakout as a leader on the pop art scene. The craftsmanship found in each and every Stango painting is a benchmark that would certainly make Norman Rockwell proud. Stango not only paints but publishes his works, under the name John Rockwell Publishing, LLC in honor of his famous cousin and the special family ties that will forever link the two artists. Different Strokes John Stango admits he was different from most of his fellow art students at Temple University. He was constantly bouncing between lucrative jobs as a DJ, steady gigs as a standup comedian, and second guessing his talents as a painter. Naysayers, including his high school art teacher, chipped away at his confidence. “They told me an art career was a long shot. It was definitely a long ride to art school every morning,” he said, laughing and recalling the hours spent catching buses and trains to class. One Tyler School of Art professor noted that John was often the one artist everyone noticed. His hard work and persistence paid off. Over the last three decades, Stango has emerged as one of America’s leading pop art painters. His work has widespread appeal, attracting diverse crowds to galleries everywhere from New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Maui to Sweden and Japan. Modern day icons in Hollywood, politics and professional sports have collected and admired John’s pop art, including Allen Iverson, Bruce Willis, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, and Nicole Miller, who has a Stango painting prominently displayed in her New York fashion design studio. Hip hop recording artist and record producer Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean) is a big Stango fan too. John will never forget when Dean dropped by. “He passed the studio, threw his car into reverse, walked in and bought ten paintings and tied them to the roof of his car,” recalls Stango, who continues to make a big impression with his pop art. Paintings from the Soul Stango enjoys putting in a full day of painting in his South Philly studio, not far from the neighborhood where he was born and raised. The music and vibe of his hometown have long played a big part in his soulful pop art. “I’m big into the 1970s Philly soul music scene,” says Stango. “Philadelphia is a very soulful city, and my art has a lot of soul deeply rooted in urban rhythm and blues.” And while John says his subject matter isn’t deep, fans and collectors of his paintings often find a deep connection with his work. “There’s a surgeon who connected with one of my Superman pieces so much that he claims he designed his whole house around that painting,” Stango says. “That’s when you know you’ve really connected with someone, and that’s what it’s all about. Life can get pretty heavy at times, and if my paintings can help make someone happy, that’s fantastic,” he noted. “My paintings are like a great big mood ring, where the mood is always good and fun no matter what’s going on out there.” For more information about John Stango and his pop art, visit www.stangoart.com.