Andre Miripolsky

Andre Miripolsky (born 1951) is an American pop artist based in Los Angeles, California. His career began with the design of Elton John's piano jacket in 1980, and is best known for his "Fear No Art" button, album covers, the Miripolsky Barbie, and Absolut Vodka illustrations. He also painted the backdrops for the Tonight Show hosted by Jay Leno.

Early life

Miripolsky was born in Paris, France in 1951. His father was Bert Miripolsky, also an artist and the cultural advisor for the American Foreign Service. He attended the California Institute of the Arts where he honed his style.

While he was confined to bed at the UCLA Medical Center, an anonymous well wisher sent Miripolsky several hand-made cards, encouraging him to take hope and overcome his injuries. Miripolsky grabbed some cardboard which he happened to have on hand and painted a design to reciprocate the gesture. Eventually, he painted fifty of these cards which were autobiographical and chronicled his injury and recovery. Bert Miripolsky, the artist's father, encouraged him to publish the series which became a book titled Fear No Art: A Crash Course in Reality.

The "Fear No Art" series reverberated through the art world. The phrase was picked up by defenders of controversial artist Robert Mapplethorpe. United States President Bill Clinton cited the phrase as characterizing culture during the Clinton era. Miripolsky departed from his usual pop art theme to design a blood collection bag for a Japanese blood products company, Terumo Medical corporation.

In 2011, Miripolsky was asked to create a mural for the fence of the newly reopening Museum of Monterey. The artist was assisted by a team of art students in creating a mural that represents the sky and ocean using four different shades of blue. Through an optical illusion, the mural gives the visual impression that the museum is sitting on undulating waves of water. Miripolsky sketched out the design on the fence first and, using a sort of paint-by-numbers system, the students colored in the mural. Museum President Todd Hood described the mural as "fundamentally important to the museum and to Monterey."

Miripolsky created a fifteen by fifty foot mural on vinyl in conjunction with Downtown Art Walk, a Los Angeles arts organization. The installation, painted on vinyl, is displayed on the wall on Olive Street between Fifth and Sixth, across from the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. It portrays a panorama of Los Angeles' most recognizable landmarks. Nearby, Miripolsky's "Urban Artscape" is a permanent installation at Seventh and Figueroa. Also painted on vinyl, the 8–foot-by-20-foot mural was supported by Arts Brookfield and the DTLA Art Walk. Miripolsky designed the visual art for a Star Line Tours double-decker bus that makes a six-hour citywide tour, covering Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Downtown Los Angeles.

Activism

Miripolsky has advocated and donated his creative talent to a number of social and political causes. He has also been frequently commissioned to create artwork on behalf of various causes.