A popular Miami street artist is suing retail giant American Eagle Outfitters for using his murals in a global marketing campaign without compensating or crediting him.
Miami artist David Anasagasti, better known as Ahol Sniffs Glue, claims the retailer used his artwork to sell its cut-off shorts and surfer T-shirts.
The artwork in question are the droopy eyeball-motif murals Anasagasti painted in Miami’s Wynwood Art District.
In a 15-page complaint filed in New York federal court this month, Anasagasti claims the retail giant used his signature murals as backdrops for "attractive young models."
In one image, the suit alleges American Eagle Outfitters positioned a "young clean-cut and apparently Caucasian model" with a spray paint can near Anasagasti's work entitled "Ocean Wave," implying the model created the art and not Anasagasti, a "bearded, heavily-tattooed" Cuban American.
A spokesperson for the retail chain did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Anasagasti is represented by New York law firm Kushnirsky Gerber. He is seeking unspecified damages, injunctive relief and attorney's fees.
The lawsuit charges American Eagle Outfitters for ads featuring Anasagasti's artwork on social media sites, billboards and in-store advertising across the United States and in Panama, Colombia and Japan.
According to the lawsuit, Anasagasti comes from "the counterculture world of street artists" and he "doesn't sell out to corporate interests."
