Fnnch

Last updated
fnnch
Born1986or1987(age 37–38) [1]
Alma mater Stanford University
Known for Street Art
Notable workHoney bears
Website fnnch.com

fnnch (pronounced finch) [2] is a pseudonymous American street artist based in San Francisco. [3] He often utilizes stencils and spray paint. [4] His subjects frequently feature nature, such as birds, and pop art imagery, such as his honey bear series. [5] [6]

Contents

fnnch's work has been displayed at Burning Man, [7] Stanford Redwood City, [8] and San Francisco LGBT Community Center.

His studio is based in the Mission District. [9]

Early life

fnnch is from Kirkwood, Missouri. [2] As a teenager, he was an illustrator for a video game company. [10] He moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2005 [10] to attend college. [2] He graduated from Stanford University with a BA with honors in Economics and a BS in Mathematics. [11] He moved to San Francisco in 2011 [5] and is based in Duboce Triangle, San Francisco. [6]

Career

fnnch's first piece as a street artist was in Duboce Park. [10] His pseudonym is a play on the word finch, his childhood nickname. [2] He chose to use an alias because his early works were illegally painted onto public property. [10]

In July 2017, fnnch debuted the "9 Cans of LaCroix" nine-piece stencil series at gallery in the Mission District of San Francisco. He sold them for $500 each. San Francisco Chronicle likened it to Andy Warhol's 1962 Campbell's soup cans, saying that "fnnch used the same-sized canvases as Warhol and painted the cans from a similar vantage point." [12] [13] What began as a joke between friends, fnnch said that the series is a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the zeitgeist of the sparkling water brand and how that symbolizes the faltering popularity of soft drinks. [13]

According to the San Francisco Business Journal, his company, Brambling LLC, "saw a 100% increase over 2019, which itself saw a 50% year-over-year increase over 2018 earnings." [9]

Philosophy

Since his works are often in the public, and sometimes illegal, he said “I wanted to paint something that was positive, inclusive, nostalgic in nature, so that you had this cognitive dissonance where you realize that the piece is illegal and will go away, but you like it, and you want it to stay.” [14] On the arts and politics, fnnch has said, "Something that is truly political is divisive, and I want to be additive." [10] He considers art galleries to be undemocratic, noting the 1.2 million people of people who visit SFMOMA annually versus the 25 million people who visit or live in San Francisco. [6]

Influences

fnnch lists Andy Warhol, Banksy, Jeremy Novy, Frank Stella, and Ellsworth Kelly as some of his influences. [3] [10]

Honey bears

fnnch began painting honey bears onto mailboxes as a form of street art. [15] The imagery is derived from the bear-shaped honey bottles commonly found in grocery stores. [16] On why he chose to use the honey bear, fnnch said, "I think it’s a universal symbol of happiness. It’s got nostalgia, it’s got desire because it contained sugar, which is something we deeply wanted as kids, and it’s an all around positive image." [17] Variations of the bear often incorporate different items and clothing, such as sunglasses and a gold chain to represent Run-DMC. [18]

In January 2018, fnnch plastered 450 honey bear stickers on poles in South of Market and downtown San Francisco to seek the reduction of punishment for the posting of street art stickers and wheat paste adhesives on public property from a misdemeanor to a minor infraction. [19] In order to comply with local laws about postings, fnnch mounted his prints with zip ties. [20]

a honey bear print being displayed inside of a private residence in San Francisco (August 2020) Fnnch, honey bear print, San Francisco (August 2020).jpg
a honey bear print being displayed inside of a private residence in San Francisco (August 2020)

In April 2020, fnnch began wheat-pasting mask and soap themed honey bears onto boarded up businesses in the Castro District of San Francisco as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. [21] He expanded to other neighborhoods in the city within the month. [22] He later launched a painting fundraiser sale, with 50% of profits going towards a local non-profit. [22] In May 2020, fnnch launched the "Honey Bear Hunt" wherein buyers could opt in to a map consisting of other honey bear locations. [23] He went on to sell 20,000 units by March 2021. [24] fnnch conducted other fundraising sales benefitting various non-profits and organizations, such as the Roxie Theater and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. [25] [26] Due to his rise in popularity, he went from donating $12,000 in 2019 to more than $300,000 in 2020. [27]

fnnch released a black honey bear similar to the black squares people posted on social media on Blackout Tuesday to support Black Lives Matter. Commercial artist Sirron Norris raised concerns about the imagery, likening it to blackface, and has gone on to collaborate with fnnch on a variation wherein both artists' signature bears hold up signs supporting Black Lives Matter instead. [18]

fnnch's honey bear mural outside of the SFLGBT Community Center (October 2020) Fnnch, Market Street SF LBGT Center Oct 2020.jpg
fnnch's honey bear mural outside of the SFLGBT Community Center (October 2020)

fnnch donated a mural depicting three honey bears painted in the colors of three different pride flags to the San Francisco LGBT Community Center in June 2020. [27] [28] The mural was dedicated to fnnch's gay uncle. [28] The mural was vandalized in April 2021 over grievances regarding wall space, [18] and was painted over by the center on April 28, 2021 as a response to community complaints and as part of their rotating mural project. [27] [29]

In April 2021, fnnch partnered with San Francisco Department of Public Health to use the honey bears in a poster ad campaign at bus stops operated by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency encouraging vaccination against the coronavirus in San Francisco. However, the url listed on the posters was incorrect. [30]

Critics have said that the honey bears homogenized the street art scene in San Francisco. [27] In the commentary section for KQED, Rae Alexandra said "In the past 12 months, San Francisco has become so oversaturated with fnnch’s honey bears that what was once an occasional sugar rush now feels like a nausea-inducing force-feeding." [31] Street artist Ricky Rat wrote, “I can’t claim that the Honey Bear is to blame for the gentrification rampant in the City, but it certainly characterizes that culture. By virtue of its cute, homogeneous ubiquity the Honey Bear is a reminder of the worst qualities of this gentrification — white privilege, corporate power and social conformity.” [32]

Non-fungible tokens

In March 2020, fnnch sold two non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of his works via events hosted on the Clubhouse app. [33] The caricatures of tech founders Mark Zuckerberg, Daniel Ek and Tobias Lütke as honey bears sold for 38.88 Ethereum or about $64,000. Twenty percent of the proceeds went towards COVID-19 relief via GiveDirectly. [33] One half of a digital artwork depicting two halves of a matzo in a digital afikoman, with the other hidden for participants, sold for 2.2 Ethereum or about $4,200. [34]

He has likened the rise of NFTs in 2020 to the dot-com bubble. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco LGBT Community Center</span> Building in San Francisco, California

The San Francisco LGBT Community Center, also known as the SF LGBT Center, is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community of San Francisco, California, and nearby communities, located at 1800 Market Street in San Francisco. The mission of the SF LGBT Center is "to connect the diverse LGBTQ+ community to opportunities, resources, and each other to achieve a stronger, healthier, and more equitable world for LGBTQ+ people and our allies."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayview–Hunters Point, San Francisco</span> Neighborhood in San Francisco, California

Bayview–Hunters Point is the San Francisco, California, neighborhood combining the Bayview and Hunters Point neighborhoods in the southeastern corner of the city. The decommissioned Hunters Point Naval Shipyard is located within its boundaries and Candlestick Park, which was demolished in 2015, was on the southern edge. Due to the South East location, the two neighborhoods are often merged. Bayview–Hunter's Point has been labeled as San Francisco's "Most Isolated Neighborhood".

The Mission District, commonly known as the Mission, is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is derived from Mission San Francisco de Asís, built in 1776 by the Spanish. The Mission is historically one of the most notable centers of the city's Chicano/Mexican-American community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duboce Triangle, San Francisco</span> Neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States

The Duboce Triangle is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California, located below Buena Vista Park and between the neighborhoods of the Castro/Eureka Valley, the Mission District, and the Lower Haight.

The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy in San Francisco, California. The commission oversees Civic Design Review, Community Investments, Public Art, SFAC Galleries, The Civic Art Collection, and the Art Vendor Program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rigo 23</span>

Rigo 23 is a Portuguese-born American muralist, painter, and political artist. He is known in the San Francisco community for having painted a number of large, graphic "sign" murals including: One Tree next to the U.S. Route 101 on-ramp at 10th and Bryant Street, Innercity Home on a large public housing structure, Sky/Ground on a tall abandoned building at 3rd and Mission Street, and Extinct over a Shell gas station. He resides in San Francisco, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Exposure (art space)</span>

Southern Exposure (SoEx) is a not-for-profit arts organization and alternative art space founded in 1974 in the Mission District of San Francisco, California. It was originally founded as a grassroots, cooperative art gallery in conjunction with Project Artaud which was a live/work artist community. By the 1980s, they converted the gallery to a community space for supporting emerging artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Arnett</span> American artist and dancer (1928-1988)

Charles "Chuck" Arnett was an American artist and dancer. His best-known work is the Tool Box mural (1962).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balmy Alley</span> Street in San Francisco, California

Balmy Alley is a one-block-long alley that is home to the most concentrated collection of murals in the city of San Francisco. It is located in the south central portion of the Inner Mission District between 24th Street and Garfield Square. Since 1973, most buildings on the street have been decorated with a mural.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarion Alley</span>

Clarion Alley is a small street between Mission and Valencia Streets and 17th and 18th Streets in the Mission District in San Francisco, California. It is notable for the murals painted by the Clarion Alley Mural Project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan Wilson</span>

Megan Wilson is an American visual artist, writer, and activist based in San Francisco. Known for her large-scale installations, public projects, and street art, she incorporates a broad range of pop culture methodologies and aesthetics to address conceptual interests that include home, homelessness, social and economic justice, anti-capitalism, impermanence and generosity. Wilson's art practice is influenced by Buddhism and Vipassanā meditation, often creating work that is conceptually rooted in elements of these practices and that is intentionally ephemeral or given away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodward's Gardens</span> 19th-century amusement park in San Francisco, California

Woodward's Gardens, commonly referred to as The Gardens, was a combination amusement park, museum, art gallery, zoo, and aquarium operating from 1866 to 1891 in the Mission District of San Francisco, California. The Gardens covered two city blocks, bounded by Mission, Valencia, 13th, and 15th Streets in San Francisco. The site currently has a brick building at 1700 Mission Street, built after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which features a California Historical Site plaque, and the Crafty Fox Alehouse on the ground floor. The former Gardens site also features the current location of the San Francisco Armory, completed in 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Zakheim</span> American painter

Bernard Baruch Zakheim was a Warsaw-born San Francisco muralist, best known for his work on the Coit Tower murals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Arnautoff</span> Russian-American painter, muralist, and academic

Victor Mikhail Arnautoff was a Russian-American painter and professor of art. He worked in San Francisco and the Bay Area from 1925 to 1963, including two decades as a teacher at Stanford University, and was particularly prolific as a muralist during the 1930s. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen, but returned to the Soviet Union after the death of his wife, continuing his career there before his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Statton</span>

Christopher Statton is an American artist and arts administrator, community activist, and philanthropist, and activist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Statton is best known for his role in establishing San Francisco's oldest continuously running theater, the Roxie Theater as a non-profit during his four-year tenure as executive director, 2010 – 2013. In 2013 he was awarded the Marlon Riggs Award by the San Francisco Film Critics Circle for “his significant contribution to San Francisco’s film community through the Roxie Theater over the past four years.” Ryan Coogler also received the award for his film Fruitvale Station. In 2013, San Francisco District 9 Supervisor David Campos awarded Statton with a Certificate of Honor for his “important and tireless work with the Roxie.” Statton resigned from the Roxie in 2013 due to health concerns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenifer K. Wofford</span> American artist and educator

Jenifer K. Wofford is an American contemporary artist and art educator based in San Francisco, California, United States. Known for her contributions to Filipino-American visual art, Wofford's work often addresses hybridity, authenticity and global culture, frequently from an ironic, humorous perspective. Wofford collaborates with artists Reanne Estrada and Eliza Barrios as the artist group Mail Order Brides/M.O.B. She was also the curator of Galleon Trade, an international art exchange among California, Mexico and the Philippines.

Sirron Norris is an American illustrator, muralist, and arts educator. He is known for his work on the FOX animated television show Bob's Burgers and for numerous cartoon-style public murals, including ones at Balmy Alley, Clarion Alley, and Mission Dolores Park, and galleries around San Francisco. His murals often include political messages, local themes, and his signature blue bear. He has worked with several local non-profits, including SPUR and El Tecolote.

The Apexer is a San Francisco-based public artist and mural painter. His works have appeared throughout US and internationally. He has done commissioned mural projects for museums including the deYoung Museum and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith is an American artist based in Oakland, California. She is known for her large-scale murals, and she is also the creative director of the Bay Area Mural Program.

References

  1. ↑ Waxmann, Laura (2016-05-25). "Anti-Gentrification Graffiti Paints Picture of Artists' Struggle for Space". Mission Local. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Fenske, Sarah. "San Francisco Street Artist Fnnch Leaves His Mark on Clementine's Creamery". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  3. 1 2 김나랑 (2020-08-24). "인스타와 샌프란시스코를 점령한 허니베어 | 보그 코리아 (Vogue Korea)". Vogue Korea (in Korean). Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  4. ↑ "Meet fnnch | Street Artist". SHOUTOUT LA. 2020-11-17. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  5. 1 2 "Meet Fnnch - Voyage LA Magazine | LA City Guide". voyagela.com. May 22, 2018. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  6. 1 2 3 Hogan, Clara (2018-01-29). "Street artist fnnch bombs downtown San Francisco with 450 cute-AF honey bears". 7x7 Bay Area. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  7. ↑ Zimmerman, Douglas (2019-09-07). "Photographer shares incredible Burning Man 2019 shots: 'It's hard to encapsulate this week in words'". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  8. ↑ Rahman, Mohammed; Wander, Robin (November 8, 2019). "Artwork installed at Stanford Redwood City – Stanford Arts" . Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  9. 1 2 Andersen, Ted (December 24, 2020). "S.F. honey bear artist — now in top 1% of industry — donated almost $250K in 2020". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Block, Stephanie (2020). "FNNCH". Haute Living. No. July/August. pp. 66–71.
  11. ↑ Stanford University Human Resources (September 22, 2020). Talks with the Artists: An Interview with fnnch (YouTube video). Stanford University.
  12. ↑ Robertson, Michelle (2017-07-13). "Opening night of SF art show dedicated to La Croix has already sold out". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  13. 1 2 Mettler, Katie (July 20, 2017). "These '9 Cans of LaCroix' paintings are Warhol's 'soup cans for millennials'". Washington Post .
  14. ↑ Wilson, Summer. "Follow fnnch, the Honey Bear street artist". Adobe Inc. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  15. ↑ Welch, Isabella (7 January 2019). "Issue 7: fnnch". Bob Cut Mag. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  16. ↑ Brinklow, Adam (2018-05-25). "Street artist creates giant 'honey bears' in SoMa [Update]". Curbed SF. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  17. ↑ Queen, Gypsy (2017-04-10). "Street Art vs. Graffiti – A Conversation with Fnnch, Pt 1". Gypsy Queen. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  18. 1 2 3 Bravo, Tony (May 7, 2021). "Is this the moment San Francisco turns against fnnch's honey bears?". Datebook. San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  19. ↑ Martichoux, Alix (2018-01-29). "Street artist plasters downtown San Francisco with 450 honey bears to make a point to the city". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  20. ↑ Falstreau, Nathan (2018-01-30). "Street Artist 'Sign-Bombs' Downtown Neighborhoods With 450 'Honey Bears'". hoodline.com. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  21. ↑ Bracco, Steven (2020-04-09). "Street artist fnnch installs series of COVID-19-themed honey bear murals". hoodline.com. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  22. 1 2 Gentile, Dan (2020-04-21). "Masks and hand sanitizer murals pop up from famous SF graffiti artist". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  23. ↑ "San Francisco's 'Honey Bear' Artist Raises Over $100,000 For COVID-19 Charities". 2020-05-10. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  24. 1 2 Paris, Martine (March 27, 2021). "Here's what a well-known artist says about the NFT craze". Fortune. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  25. ↑ Bartlett, Amanda (2021-03-04). "Famous SF artist creates new design to support 110-year-old Roxie Theater". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  26. ↑ Hudson, David (2021-04-06). "New street art in San Francisco honors the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence". GayCities Blog. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  27. 1 2 3 4 Mark, Julian (2021-04-29). "LGBT Center erases ubiquitous honey bears painted by street artist fnnch". Mission Local. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  28. 1 2 "Sweet Support for SF LGBT Center Thanks to Visionaries Mark Rhoades and fnnch". San Francisco Bay Times. 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  29. ↑ Hotchkiss, Sarah (April 29, 2021). "Honey Bear Mural Painted Over By SF LGBT Center; Artist fnnch Responds". KQED. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  30. ↑ Barmann, Jay (2021-04-12). "SFMTA and Health Department Use Street Artist Fnnch's Honey Bear for New Vaccination Campaign". SFist. Archived from the original on 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  31. ↑ Alexandra, Rae (April 27, 2021). "How fnnch's Honey Bears Became the Most Despised Street Art in San Francisco". KQED. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  32. ↑ Mak, Alex (July 16, 2020). "The Beauty $ 'Beef' in San Francisco's Street Art Scene". brokeassstuart.com.
  33. 1 2 Gentile, Dan (2021-03-26). "SF street artist sells Zuckerberg NFT honey bear for $64,000". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  34. ↑ Mirsky, Maya (2021-04-01). "Passover NFT fetches over $4,000 in charity auction". J. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.