Alec Andon, known professionally as Alec Monopoly, is a graffiti artist, originally from New York City. He currently resides in Los Angeles where he creates the majority of his work.

 

Monopoly is best known for his graffiti character Monopoly Man, originally inspired by stockbroker Bernie Madoff. According to the Huffington Post, “In an era of billion dollar bailouts for banks that already own the country and moguls decrying regulation as un-American, the re-contextualization of the childhood symbol of success and wealth almost needed no explanation.”

 

Although graffiti is generally conveyed as a crime, Monopoly states “I stay away from mailboxes, highways, freeways, and basically any federal and government property. I like warehouses and abandoned buildings. For example I would never hit a coffee shop like the one we’re in: they [the owners] are trying to make it just like I am. I try to be as positive as I can about what I put out there and I try to do it with imagery everyone can identify with. Most people walking by my stuff are not graffiti people or art people, so figuring out a way that everyone can identify with my work is important.”

 

However, Monopoly has been shying away from the illegal version of graffiti and begun working with big brand companies such as Supreme, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, among others, to create artwork in different forms. Monopoly has created sculptures, produced canvas’ ranging in size, painted large murals on buildings (with permission), drawn on clothing, including shoes and painted designs on brand name luggage and purses. He has a very wide range of style, but his two main forms of art include edits to pictures of celebrities and paintings surrounding the Monopoly Man, otherwise known as Rich “Uncle” Pennybags. Often times, a piece featuring the Money Man will include the character running with a money bag under his arm, delivering his critique of capitalist greed.

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Inspired by British street artist Banksy, Monopoly uses his work to subvert the capitalist hierarchies in existing pop culture. He also cites Salvador Dalí as well as pioneering street artists like Keith Haring as a source of inspiration.

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Monopoly states “For me, as an artist it's always important to be growing and changing. And if you look a lot at my characters that I've done, there's a lot more colours, there's a lot more depth. I'm using a lot more collaging in some of the paintings. I started using actual photos and movie scripts from the movie Casino with De Niro on top.”

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Monopoly continues to gain a following as his name spreads. His work has been purchased by Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, Snoop Dogg, Seth Rogen and Iggy Azalea, among others. He held two solo art shows in 2017 after being involved in three group shows in 2016. To learn more about Monopoly and view his work, follow him on instagram @alecmonopoly or visit alecmonopoly.com.