#HCoCares Presents Stefan Mitchell
Stefan Mitchell presents his push pin portraits with products from Beere Brewing, Moët & Chandon, UBS, and services from Haggertys & Co.
Brand Support
https://www.moet.com/en-int
https://www.beerebrewing.com
UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland)
https://www.ubs.com/ca/en.html
The Event
VANCOUVER, Canada — On March 17, 2023, over 200 curious gallery-goers filled the Icebox Gallery in Vancouver, BC to see eight 36” by 48” celebrity portraits, each composed of thousands of handpainted push pins assembled by 24-year-old North Vancouver artist, Stefan Mitchell for his debut solo exhibition titled ‘Push Pin Wallflowers’.
Deceptively simple in the artwork’s presentation, each push pin is meticulously crafted and placed by hand, taking upwards of 200 hours to complete a single 36” by 48” canvas.
Mitchell’s debut exhibition presented by #HandCoCares (Haggertys & Co) embodied the whirlwind, heat, and flash of downtown neptobabies and suburban skaters mixing like carnival to the tune of Khruangbin, Beastie Boys, and Massive Attack. In between best friends posting up for the free beer, and finance bros jockeying for colorful editions of commissions already sold to Hollywood (the A$AP Rocky, Rihanna, and Tyler the Creator portraits featured on the gallery brochures sold to A$AP’s team days before the show opened and had to be replaced last minute), the gallery was a sold out and the art sold many times over in editions.
Moët & Chandon (LVMH) sponsored bottles of champagne for private sales meetings with Haggertys & Co Agents on the rooftop in what was called the ‘Moët & Chandon Experience Lounge’. Guests could play billiards, enjoy champagne and a remarkable view of downtown and the waterfront while deciding on which celebrity or subject they wanted Mitchell to craft for their office, home, or business.
Bringing a touch of London to the event, the elevator connecting the event’s three floors (basement valet, ground floor Beere Brewing Presentation Gallery, and the rooftop Moët & Chandon Experience Lounge) was transformed into a kissing booth at the request of host and Haggertys & Co Executive Chairman, Andrew Willis, to encourage guests “to be naughty tonight and have a bit of cheeky fun”. Couples flocked to the elevator for kissing selfies making the elevator its own party.
In the street-level gallery (the Beere Brewing Presentation Gallery) where Mitchell’s work was showcased, Beere Brewing (North Vancouver) sponsored an unending supply of Vancouver’s freshest beer for hundreds of walkthroughs.
Like any musical or sporting event held by the subjects of Mitchell’s art (A$AP Rocky, Rihanna, Kobe Bryant), where the rowdy and the rich rub shoulders while holding colorful cups of beer; and where not a single tote-bag-clutching art critic or mealy-mouthed gallery lizard was in sight (thank God!) – a party of surfers, skaters, hypebeasts, OnlyFans models, lawyers, finance types, actors and all those in between (including a Catholic priest!) ensured that the night was memorable, the artwork sold out, and new commissions sold to launch Mitchell’s brand into the world.
