Artist pays homage to beloved Whataburger
Michael Kendrix Temple saw an old comic strip that showed Wonder Woman eating a hamburger and thought to himself: That would be “dope” if it was a Black woman eating a Whataburger.
That was the inspiration behind his artwork that was recently submitted to the Whataburger Museum of Art: an online (for now) gallery of Whataburger artwork made by fans of the popular burger chain.
Temple, who goes by “Madd Kyng,” is one of many emerging Black artists in Houston and is part of the WMOA’s attempt to spotlight Black artists.
Temple’s mixed media piece is titled WhataVibe and shows a Black woman with an afro and wearing sunglasses, eating a Whataburger and wearing a Whataburger shirt. The base of the shirt is made of Whataburger wrappers and so are parts of the border of the canvas.
“I also took a Whataburger tray and used that as my paint palette,” Temple said. “I wanted there to be a lot of burger-based aesthetics.”
In the bottom right-hand corner of the painting is a character that Temple includes in all of his works, a character he named Gensho, the Japanese pronunciation of the word “phenomenon.”
Temple said he originally went to school for business finance but quickly realized it wasn’t his passion. He switched his major to painting and minored in African studies. Temple graduated from San Diego State in 2015 and has been painting in Houston since 2016.
“I kept putting in the grind and just kept not giving up on art and wanting that to be my profession in any way shape or form,” Temple said.
Now, Temple has showcased his art in different cities around the globe, including the Art Basel in Switzerland and Miami.
Whataburger holds a personal connection for Temple, who said his family would always stop at the burger chain after church in Wharton. He was once a collector of Whataburger’s table tents.
Temple is one of four Black artists the WMOA spotlighted last week. The others included Shae Anthony from Atlanta, Niki Dionne of Dallas, and Sam Dunson of Nashville.
“At Whataburger, we’re fortunate to have so many talented fans who have transformed their brand love into pieces of artwork — that’s pretty special they’ve inspired us,” Whataburger Marketing Director Brooks Boenig said in a statement to the Chronicle. “We wanted to support and celebrate the diversity of Whataburger fans whose artwork uplifts and connects us, and the Whataburger Museum of Art helps us do that.”
“We’ve talked with all kinds of people, from all walks of life. Professional artists, part-time artists and everyone in between,” Boenig said. “It’s important to us that we amplify diverse artists.”
Boenig said that Whataburger is exploring the possibilities of featuring artwork in a physical gallery in the future.