ARTIST TEXTS / Q&A / LINKS
CREDIT TO THE EDIT: Stephen McMennamy
CREDIT TO THE EDIT
Stephen McMennamy
SuperRare : https://superrare.com/combophoto
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/combophoto/
Web : http://www.s-mcmennamy.com/
BIO :
Born in Atlanta, GA USA
– Raised in the Philippines (5 years)
– Attended Savannah College of Art and Design
– Attended the Creative Circus (advertising school)
– Started his advertising career as an art director in 1998
– Became a Creative Director
– Led a few national accounts (at&t and REI)
– Won some awards (Cannes Film Festival shortlist, Communication Arts, Shorty Awards shortlist for Instagrammer of the year)
– Quit advertising to focus on content creation
– Commissioned by Apple, Hermes, HP, Callaway Golf, Whole Foods, Continental Tires, Instagram, HSBC, PayPal, Beck (Capitol Records), Sopexa, Jack Daniels, KFC (France), Nest, Lincoln Motors, Western Digital, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Club Med, The Editorialist, The Wall Street Journal & Play-Doh.
– Full-time husband/father
WORKING PRACTICES :
“I like to blend, warp, manipulate and distort reality. I look for ways to seamlessly combine two disparate images/objects to create something entirely new. My style is clean and simple. I’m not influenced by one particular artist/creator. I find constantly inspiration from all my peers.”
SELECTED WORKS :
Car + Fireworks:
A car on a bridge that transitions to an exploding firework.
Cucumber FTW
The challenge was to demonstrate that cucumbers are the most hydrating vegetable you can eat.
Stephen McMennamy – Q&A
Have you always been both creative and technically minded or did one follow the other?
I feel as though I’ve always been like that. My father was a mechanical engineer, so at a young age I was exposed to a lot of tinkering, experimentation, failure and technical problem solving.
How did you get into the world of creative video production?
While working in advertising, I was involved in a lot of television productions, which piqued my interest in gaining a better understanding of how the “sauce” was made. But to answer the question more directly, I just started doing it and YouTube tutorials became my instructor.
How would you best describe your signature style?
Simple, clean and graphic
Can you pinpoint a moment in your career that was a pivotal turning point?
When Instagram was introduced, I found a creative outlet that seemingly had no creative limitations. I found it very inspiring and liberating.
What inspires you in your personal work?
The brilliance of other artists.
What are some of your ambitions as a creative?
To three dimensionalize my photography into physical sculptures. I took up sculpting at the beginning of 2020, but covid took the wind out of my sails.
Is there anyone that you’d particularly like to collaborate with?
I just want to be Francois Vogel.
What are your thoughts about the NFT space as it stands. Specifically in relation to your style of work and how you see it evolving.
I have to be honest, I don’t fully understand NFT’s, but I like what I’ve heard and it sounds like it could be much more beneficial for the artist. I hope the lure of NFT’s doesn’t alter how I create. I want to try and stay pure in how I think and execute my work.
LINKS AND INTERVIEWS :
Stephen McMennamy Interview on CNN
Dan Mauger
Dan Mauger is a London based curator, art director and founder of the art platform Visual Fodder. He has been a part of the international contemporary art scene for over a decade, co-founding London contemporary art gallery Mauger Modern Art in 2008 and exhibiting a roster of artists in major art fairs across the globe, including multiple presentations during Art Basel Miami/Switzerland.
Work from the gallery’s artists has been acquired by some of the world’s leading art collectors and is held in collections which include: Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK Getty Museum and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.Art
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