New York Post

Logo - getter

Instead of suing this sly artist, Gucci hired him

- — Raquel Laneri

I N an odd career twist, former Olympic snowboarde­r Trevor Andrew has spent the past four years covering every available surface with ghosts that have crudely drawn Gucci logos for eyes.

Known as GucciGhost, Andrew and his graffiti-style efforts have earned him some 84,000 followers on his TroubleAnd­rew Instagram account — and, in 2016, a formal collaborat­ion with the luxury Italian label, which invited the Bed-Stuy-based artist to embellish its bags and garments with edgy scrawls.

Now, Andrew brings his Gucci-inspired pieces to New York Fashion Week with “The Real Buy,” an exhibition of roughly 200 artworks at Milk Gallery in Chelsea.

“I basically moved my whole studio in Brooklyn here,” the 38-year-old Andrew tells The Post, flashing two gold teeth.

On display are paintings, moto jackets, toilet seats and boomboxes adorned with Gucci’s trademark interlocki­ng Gs.

Andrew also hauled in a beat-up car, its trunk filled with defaced Gucci luggage. “I just came across it,” Andrew says of the vehicle. “A lot of the objects I use I just randomly find.”

AAndrew has been obsessed with the desdesigne­r label since buying his first real GuGucci item — a watch — at age 17, with prize momoney from a snowboardi­ng competitio­n.

TThe GucciGhost project arose from a HaHallowee­n fluke in 2013: Desperate for a cocostume, Andrew cut eyeholes in a Gucci bebedsheet and threw it over his head.

The get-up was a hit, prompting Andrew to mmake the luxury symbol part of his persona.

Andrew says some friends expressed coconcern when he began tagging walls and obobjects with his counterfei­t Gucci logos and shsharing the photos on social media.

“They said I could get sued. But I was like, ‘ItIt’s not stealing, it’s reinterpre­ting,’ ” he says.

Gucci’s eventual partnershi­p offer “was ddope,” he says.

Still, for future endeavors, Andrew is cconsideri­ng broadening his oeuvre beyond Gucci. “I have some things in the works,” he says, declining to disclose details.

In the meantime, gallery visitors can take in his DIY-meets-designer art and go home with souvenirs — merch ranges from $40 for a GucciGhost-branded T-shirt to $350 for a screen print.

“The Real Buy” runs through Sept. 23 at Milk Gallery, 450 West 15th St.; 212-645-2797, TheMilkGal­lery.com.

 ??  ?? Trevor Andrew, aka GucciGhost (inset), creates art using the label’s logo.
Trevor Andrew, aka GucciGhost (inset), creates art using the label’s logo.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States