Description

1998 “Alphabet Drawing” by contemporary Pop Art artist Chank Diesel (Am., b. 1969). Chank had a website before most people even had a computer. Chank numbers his drawings. This is #2068. It’s ink on paper. Chank is pretty much the founder of Grunge Typography. Some of Chank's fonts were featured in the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum as "important examples of contemporary typography" in 1996. He was profiled in The Wall Street Journal in 1997. Most people will recognize Chank’s work from all the Prince album covers and the 1990’s alternative music magazine Cake. If not, just look at that Taco Bell food wrapper, Honeycomb cereal box, or Ocean Spray cranberry drink label. They’re all by Chank. Andy Warhol copied pop culture images like Campbell’s Soup and other labels. Chank doesn’t copy them, he creates them! Otherwise, his ‘fine art’ pieces do remind me of Warhol cohort Keith Haring. “A lifelong painter, his brightly colored pop-art murals adorn several Twin Cities walls, including the Creative Lighting store off I-94 in St. Paul and Uncle Franky’s in Minneapolis. On a smaller scale, Chank’s artistic legacy includes over 15,000 paintings (he’s abandoned his goal of topping Picasso’s lifetime record of one million)”. Chank lives and works out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It’s not exactly NYC, but then again, Chank recognized the power of the internet early on. I think he felt that was more of wide-reaching location than any particular town or city. He used to sell some of his drawings and paintings on eBay. I think the drawing offered here was one of those because the previous owner, the late Dr. Guy Sbar, was a big eBay buyer (docharpo), and from early on in the late 90’s. This drawing was done just before eBay went public on September 21, 1998. So, it’s like the ultimate Generation X Pop Art piece per the date and computer / internet / Silicon Valley relevance. I wouldn’t place quite as high of a value on it if it were from say the year 2000-present. Ink on custom-cut, off-white paper. Framed, under glass and ‘floated’ on blue mat board or backer. Signed and dated in ink: “Mr. Chank Diesel 9.1.98”. Inscribed “#2068” and also “Super Tuesday Luck to You! -Chank!” Bears three stamps: “C” in a circle for Chank, an image of a gas pump for Diesel, and date stamp “Sep 01 1998”. Also, has printed or stamped web and mailing address. (Uneven) paper size: 10 x 4 3/4 inches. Overall framed size: 13 1/4 x 7 3/4 inches. Excellent condition. CHECK MY FEEDBACK AND BUY WITH CONFIDENCE! *** 20+ years of happy customers on eBay *** Please see my other eBay listings for more great items. Message me to arrange for combined shipping on multiple purchases.