André Saraiva estimates that he’s drawn his famous Mr A character somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 times—everywhere, from brick walls in the urban sprawl to Gucci billboards on swanky shopping promenades. But never on a ping-pong table… until now.
From 2 October, Mr A will bring his charms to the surface of 25 limited-edition tables, along with a set of paddles and a wall art pack, as part of the artist’s collaboration with passionate creatives at Art of Ping Pong.
The concept is a fusion of art, fun, and flexibility. When your tournament concludes, the pink and black ArtTable folds away and can be mounted on your wall to become an eye-catching piece of art. Each hand-finished table in the edition is numbered and signed by the artist, who happens to be a keen ping-pong player.
“I grew up in Sweden, where table tennis is very popular. I take a ping pong paddle with me everywhere,” he says. “So, when my friend Sarah Andelman from the legendary Colette store called me and said I should collaborate on this ping pong ArtTable, I said ‘yes’.”
In addition to the table itself, a limited edition of 40 ArtBats has been produced, featuring two more renditions of Mr A – a very grinny black paddle and a pink one where his expression seems a little dazed. Oh, and there’s no better place for Mr A to pop up again than on the accompanying ArtBall.
The series also includes an ArtNet, which comes in three pink, concertina-ed sections that you hang on the wall. When it’s time for a game, clear a table, set them up, and start the fun. It’s a limited edition of 10 and comes with the paddles.
“For me, art and playing come together,” says André. “Bringing people together in spaces has always been part of my art and my different projects. I consider hotels and clubs to be art pieces, the same as subway trains or walls. All of them are surfaces to spread Mr A travelling around. It’s part of my graffiti philosophy; a train, a t-shirt or ping pong ball – it’s the concept of my art across the globe.”
Algy Batten, AoPP co-founder (left) with André Saraiva.
In the past, Art of Ping Pong has worked with a variety of creatives: Yayoi Kusama, Mira Mikati, Javier Calleja, Malika Favre, The Hoxton and Campbell Hay. Now, Mr A is bringing his individual street art style to the collection. With an O and an X for eyes, a big grin, and often a pair of gangly legs, Mr A is André’s tag. He’s acclaimed as the first graffiti artist to use a character instead of a tag. Street art – subversive in itself – is subverted in his work, and Mr A’s wing and smile have come to represent a message of fun and optimism.
The ArtTable costs £2000, the ArtBat Set costs £120, and the ArtNet costs £250. We looked at the inspiration behind Art of Ping Pong previously, here.
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