Artist James Goldcrown Creates Love Heart Artwork For Elizabeth Arden Collaboration

Famed artist, James Goldcrown, has partnered with Elizabeth Arden to create a limited edition collection, Love Heals x Eight Hour Collection with Goldcrown’s iconic #lovewall artwork featured on the collection’s packaging. The artist created a mural installation at Macy’s Herald Square on Friday, September 21 and proceeds from the installation will be donated to charity.

Goldcrown was born in West London and is a self-taught artists/photographer now based in New York and Los Angeles. The world-wide phenomena left school at 17-years-old to work in a South London darkroom which led to his career as a fashion photographer. Following these pursuits, Goldcrown took a hiatus in London and went to Africa to make the documentary To Die No More which highlighted the AIDS/HIV epidemic. In 2007, Goldcrown moved to New York, a creative capitol of the world. By 2015, he had his first show at Miami Art Basel where his work sold out in just two hours. Today, Goldcrown’s work can be seen around the United States in New York, California, Texas, Miami, Chicago, and internationally in Japan, South Korea, China, and Brazil.

We spoke with Goldcrown moments before he created his #LoveWall mural outside Macy’s at Herald Square to learn more about his career and what this collaboration means to him:

Can you speak a bit about the beginning of your career and how all of this got started?

JG: My career started in New York around 2009. I was a street vendor selling art. A friend of mine and I saved enough money to get a trailer and we’d go around with our artwork, set up in the Upper West Side. Later, I got my own studio in SoHo. This pizza place asked me to do a mural for them in February around Valentine’s Day. I’d been doing Love Hearts for quite a while and it never really struck me that I should do it for a mural. It seemed too obvious to me, but all my friends encouraged me to do it. At that time, this hadn’t gone viral. Then, sure enough, February came and I hadn’t planned anything, so I did the Love Hearts. A lady called Eva Chen from Facebook was the first person with the most followers who posted it. It went viral, so thank you Eva!

What’s a place that you’d love to do a mural?

JG: New York is always a lot of fun because it’s always so chaotic. I have a lot of work around the world. I live in L.A. and murals never get vandalized there. It’s a different kind of place, but when you come to New York, murals don’t have a long lifespan. There’s something weirdly fun about that. That’s why I love New York. It’s unpredictable, there’s so much hustle and bustle, and it’s the birth place for my journey.

Why are you excited to partner with Elizabeth Arden?

JG: Elizabeth Arden is an important part of my upbringing because my mum would always wear the Eight Hour cream. I’m working with a brand that I’ve known most of my life. Growing up in England, we didn’t have Macy’s, but Elizabeth Arden was always there. It’s a nostalgic campaign for me.

To learn more, visit www.elizabetharden.com.