SUMMERTIME LOGO CONTEST

January 2020 

Our dear friend, writer Priscilla Frank who works as the Studio Manager for YAI Arts, sat down with contest winner, Kenya Hanley, to get to the bottom of his love for hot dogs and here’s what they both had to say.

Kenya Hanley prefers a classic hot dog topped with ketchup and mustard, no relish please.

Bay Ridge-based artist Kenya Hanley is the winner of Summertime’s logo contest, selected from over 150 frankfurter-centric designs submitted by artists around the country. Hanley's delightful dog will team up with Summertime’s handwritten script designed by Drew McDonald to become the official logo.

Hanley, who works at LAND Gallery, a progressive studio based in Brooklyn, draws treats like corn muffins, peanut butter brownies, and “rasta cakes” with chocolate frosting atop green, red, and yellow insides. The foods are labeled and organized in geometric grids, as if carefully presented in a shop window or diner display. 

Supermarkets and television are constant sources of inspiration for Hanley, making a hot dog challenge right up his alley. He crafted his submission in Central Park while imagining the perfect hot dog in his mind. “With a pen, I draw and color it in, and voila!” While drawing, Hanley felt almost like he could taste his subject matter, and he rewarded himself afterwards with the real thing. Hanley’s hot diggity masterpiece, topped with a golden ringlet of mustard, feels plucked from a 1950s advertisement, an ideal tribute to a strangely timeless meat product. 

According to Hanley, hot dogs are best enjoyed in summertime. Oscar Mayer and Nathan’s are the best in the biz. And “Tom and Jerry” wins for best hot dog cameo in pop culture. His dream hot dog? “Eaten while relaxing in the park with my mom,” he said. The weather would be hot, but not too hot. Reggae Calypso and dance hall would play in the background. He’d wash down the dog with water and Diet Sprite and for dessert: “a healthy fancy cookie and a healthy banana cake and a healthy muffin.” 

All this hot dog talk, Hanley said during this interview, was making him hungry.