The Brash Declarations of Baron Von Fancy

Here’s what you need to know to love the bold wordplay of New York’s own Baron Von Fancy.

1. A graduate of Bard College’s fine arts program and a lifelong NYC native, Gordon Stevenson rebranded himself Baron Von Fancy in a nod to his on-campus nickname “Fancypants”—apparently, his classmates noted his collection of vintage Versace jeans.

2. His love for self-consciously nostalgic aesthetics extends to his cheeky text works, which appropriate phrases, quotes, and clichés in the idiom of old-school hand-painted New York billboards and storefront signage.

3. Von Fancy is a prime example of how young artists today work in an expanding art world; he’s a consummate collaborator, teaming up with brands like Uber, Vans, Patagonia, and Louis Vuitton to show off his eye-catching designs.

4. Despite this exposure, he’s also not afraid to self-promote. As he revealed in this recent Artspace interview, his current project involves sneaking tiny works on paper into the food orders he delivers (on bicycle) to unsuspecting yuppies, a strangely subversive move in the era of professionalized artists.