From Friday, February 14th, 2020 through Friday, February 28th, 2020 The Exhibit Will Be Open Daily To The Public From 12:00 pm To 10:00 pm

Luxury Row – "where fashion meets art" - at 2100 Kalakaua Avenue
is proud to support the arts in Waikiki

Waikiki, HI – The owners of Luxury Row are proud to host a 30-year retrospective pop-up exhibition and sale of original artwork from Sonny Pops, Hawaii’s Ambassador of Nu’u Pop-Art, from February 14TH, 2020 through Friday, February 28TH, 2020 and open daily from 12:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Known as "Hawaii’s Ambassador of Nu’u Pop-art," Sonny Pops pop-up exhibit will feature original artwork including limited edition pieces from THE ICON SMILE COLLECTION. Sunny Pops will be at Luxury Row daily, giving guests the opportunity to "Be POP" with sonny and experience the ICON SMILE collection for a limited time only.

Sonny Pops is a point of view, an attitude. Sonny was born shortly after Mickey Mouse became America’s cultural mascot, under the morning shadow of the Hollywood sign. Sonny Pops persona sprang from the notion that Hawaii needs an Ambassador of pop-art to describe the peculiar visual dialect of Hawaii that is familiar vernacular while keeping an appropriation-ists irony, leavened with a slice of Dada.

Pop-art influenced much of our contemporary culture, but has barely affected the art of Hawaii. And yet, Hawaii, the "Aloha" state, the part that packages "paradise" is perfect for Pop – Hawaii is Pop – Consumer consciousness is at the heart of both Pop-art and Hawaii. Sonny’s mission/vision is to translate historic Hawaii motifs into iconographic Pop art forms. It is a parody of the pop pantheon on a Hawaiian vacation.

"We are thrilled to host Sonny Pops 30-year retrospective. I enjoy Sonny’s Pop art and we are excited to share his works of art at Luxury Row", says Luxury Row’s co-owner, Robert Siegel. The owners of Luxury Row seek to further stimulate cultural experiences in Hawaii and provide Hawaii artists greater global exposure for the benefit of the artists and the world. Through its special experiences, Luxury Row combines the leading fashion brands of the world with art and has become known as the destination where "Fashion Meets Art".

The medium is not the message: Ideas and spectacle help define contemporary art. Sonny Pops uses a variety of media depending on the image. One of the challenges was studying the work and methods of the most influential pop artists and trying to incorporate their approach to art making, but with a Hawaiian twist.

"Sometimes a homemade silkscreen, burned in the Hawaiian sun, old school style, was in the mix. I might paint the canvas and then silkscreen or silkscreen and paint the canvas, usually with acrylic paint. Collage elements play a part in this. The frames with the visual narratives are integral to the story on some. Pastels, encaustic and oil, painting on plexi – there are a variety of mediums that are essential. A few are the product of multiple iterations with changing mediums. Some of these are one-of-a-kind paintings of famous silkscreens, with attitude", says Steven Maier aka Sonny Pops.

"Why Sonny Pops? I hope that it makes you smile. The name is effervescent, tropical and fun. My parents never called me Sonny and my kids never called me Pops so the name is strictly a nom de brush. I think of it literally, as son of pop art. Sonny Pops is an attitude, a point of View."

Interview opportunities:
Sonny Pops; Robert Siegel - Luxury Row co-owner