Andy Valmorbida is the art entrepreneur, known for popularizing ‘pop-up art shows,’ who is currently doubling down on merchandising and licensing. With a storied history in the art industry, shaking up the status quo and embracing new ideas, the president and founder of Untilted-1 is using the Richard Hambleton copyright to pursue lucrative as well as novel merchandising and licensing deals.
As the founders of both street and pop art attempted to express artistic meaning and tension by utilizing commercial products or pop culture references, the worlds of art and capitalism have only become more interrelated since the inception of these movements.
It should come as no surprise that the estates of the originators and legends of street and pop art – Andy Warhol, Jean-Micheal Basquiat, and Keith Haring — have some of the most creative as well as economically advantageous licensing and merchandising deals in the entire art industry.
While most artists, art enthusiasts, members of the intelligentsia, and entrepreneurs in the art industry understand and recognize Hambleton’s contribution to modern, contemporary, and street art as friends of and peers to Warhol, Basquiat, and Haring, the average person does not recognize Hambleton’s name in the way they recognize the names of his co-founders in the movement. Further, while the average person may have heard of Banksy, they may not realize that there would be no Banksy without Hambleton.
While the lack of recognition Hambleton receives may hurt Valmorbida as an art fan, it excites him as an art entrepreneur. Understanding that the estates of Warhol, Basquiat, and Haring are party to some of the most popular and profitable licensing and merchandising deals in the entire world, Valmorbida believes he can access that market with the Hambleton copyright while simultaneously reinvigorating the public discourse around the revolutionary artist
Recognizing the market for merchandise and creative licensing as well as understanding that there is a blue ocean of opportunity as the sole copyright owners of Hambleton’s original body of work, Valmorbida and Untilted-1 believe that there is ample possibility for new fans to discover Hambleton’s work with strategic licensing and merchandising deals with companies like Uniqlo, among others.
Further, Valmorbida and Untilted-1 are currently pursuing innovative NFT projects with the Hambleton copyright; Valmorbida plans to pixelize some of Hambleton’s most popular and shocking art and offer them as NFTs, utilizing the cutting-edge blockchain-enabled technology.
Hambleton’s provocative and ground-breaking art are truly appropriate for and match the ascetic of these popular licensing, merchandising, and NFT deals as they are meant to grab attention, spark a conversation, and be an homage to avant-garde art.
In the spirit of creatively introducing Hambleton’s work back into the public discourse, Valmorbida is putting together the exciting new Richard Hambleton Experience. The Richard Hambleton Experience is a lively and fully immersive artistic experience that digitally overlays Hambleton’s visionary art on large physical structures in an immersive fashion. The experience is sure to remind the public, and the market, of Hambleton’s greatness having recently earned a New York Times feature for pushing art installation culture forward and for raising awareness for Hambleton’s art.