Mary van de Wiel | Chief Creative Officer, Designer + Artist

One day, a Venezuelan born, New York-based creative director and Dutch sea captain’s daughter landed in the middle of Mexico, picked up a brush and a can of black house paint and, for the first time in her life,  started to paint floor to ceiling.

The scale of her work grew big, bold and impulsive. It kicked off in a studio in San Miguel de Allende, exploded floor to ceiling in Brooklyn, and then in Sydney, Australia burst across murals, gallery windows, home furnishing, upholstery and retro chairs. No wonder. Van de Wiel believes that art has a pulse. (Just like we do.) It belongs in everyday life. Not just on walls. That’s why she couldn’t resist interpreting her paintings across different platforms, mediums and textures.

In 2015, Van had her first successful exhibition at the Saint Cloche Gallery in Sydney. A year later, she was invited to exhibit at Galeria Manuk in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. In September  2019, Black Line Crazy’s first commissioned Public Art Installation was unveiled in the UBS corporate bank lobby at 1285 Avenue of the Americas on the corner of West 51 Street. Called What Were They Thinking, it’s still up.

Her exuberance as a design thinker has always taken center stage. For 30 years, Van was Chief Creative Officer of her own award-winning branding agency with offices in New York and Sydney working with Fortune 500 clients. With Black Line Crazy, she relishes walking outside the line, and this is her invitation to walk outside the line with her.

Back in Mexico, she’s recently launched her first BLC Limited Edition Collection. Each piece is based on a signed original abstract painting, Starting with messenger bags, her work now includes totes, zippered portfolio sleeves and a handwoven Wool Collection of area rugs and throws. More homewares are following. Watch this space!