Meet Andrew George | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrew George and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I wanted a painting of Elvis for my apartment, but when I couldn’t find one I liked; I decided to make my own. The only problem was, I suck at painting…

I remembered seeing a portrait of Van Gogh made of Jelly Beans at a ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not’ when I was little, and I always wondered how it ended up in that museum, because it was extremely believable. After that, I spent years kicking around the idea of making collages of celebrities out of things related to their lives.

My favorite works of modern art have always been pieces on social issues or ones which make you feel uncomfortable for reasons you can’t quite put your finger on. When I saw an article about artists Domenic Esposito and Fernando Luis Alvarez placing a 10-foot-long sculpture of a heroin spoon outside of Pfizer’s headquarters, everything clicked into place.

I loved how they were able to protest the pharmaceutical companies in a way that both caught your eye and started a conversation, while also making you look at yourself. The natural next step was for me to spend the next six weeks making a giant portrait of Elvis Presley out one of his favorite thing: pills.

When I didn’t hate how that one turned out, I made another one of Amy Winehouse, which made it to the front page of Reddit.

I never intended for this to become a business, but after reaching so many people online, I started getting requests for commissioned pieces. This all happened in 2020, and I had rent to pay, so I couldn’t really say no. That’s how we ended up here.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
It’s very had to answer that question without sounding like I’m blowing smoke up my own ass.

The only reason I ended up making so many of these is because I didn’t have anything else to do. I was 6 months into living in New York City and trying to make it as a standup comedian (very bad idea) when Covid hit, so I had to figure out a way to stay busy without leaving my bedroom. After about the 13th piece, I realized this series had taken on a life of its own.

What I’ve found interesting is how polarizing some of the portraits are once they get posted online. Nobody had a problem with Marilyn Monroe, but people got MAD about Amy Winehouse. Most of the negative comments I received on the Amy piece centered around how I was being insensitive because her addiction was what ended up costing her life, which means the commenters are so so so close to getting it.

The biggest challenge in the beginning was finding so many pills. Now I know to just order in bulk online, but for the first few months I was getting them from all the dollar stores in my neighborhood. It was always a bummer when I needed more blues, because I would buy hundreds of sleeping pills all at once, and no cashiers ever asked me a single question.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If you’re in Atlanta for a week, you need to spend the first day walking the Belt Line, because if you do the city properly, you’ll be too fat on the last day.

We’d have to get burgers from the Vortex, chicken from Hattie B’s, burritos from Bell Street, and if you’re from out of town we have to go to Waffle House (then I’ll get super mad when you say “Oh, so it’s like a diner?”)

For hanging out, there is no place better than a standup comedy show featuring local comedians. Atlanta has some of the funniest comics in the world, and you can see them performing every single night in multiple showcases around the city.

As far as drinks go, just find a “What Atlanta Neighborhood are you?” quiz online, take that, then go there at 10pm on a Friday. My favorites are Edgewood and the Highlands, but I don’t like to push my beliefs on people.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to thank my roommates in Brooklyn for putting up with all the strange noises and smells coming from my room throughout quarantine… Also, to everyone who bought a piece, I literally couldn’t do it without you.

And in a more general sense, I’d obviously like to thank my amazingly supportive family, my friends, everyone who said something nice on instagram, anyone who said something mean on tiktok, and to my high school art teacher, Coach Hughes.

Website: andrewgeorgehasawebsite.com

Instagram: instagram.com/andrew.george

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-george-84703a43/

Twitter: twitter.com/uncleandypants

Facebook: facebook.com/george.andrew

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2HcPubAcnGHmG-pKulERSw