Famed family card game UNO continues its artist series with a deck featuring the work of Nina Chanel Abney, a Chicago-born artist now based in New York
Known for her vivid and colorful aesthetic, Chanel Abney set out to create a deck reflecting the emotions the game is known for generating. Abney explained, “People inspired the work on the UNO Artiste deck. I wanted the cards to have personality. UNO can be such an emotional game, I thought it would be fun to create cards that could speak for themselves and elicit even more of a response from the players than they already are. I typically try to create work that can start a conversation, and I wanted to take the same approach to the UNO project.”
Reflecting the various rules that have organically sprung up around play of the game, Chanel Abney created a special “No” rule card.
Chatting on her own experience playing the Mattell-owned card game, Chanel Abney added, “UNO is probably the game that I have played the most during my life. It’s extremely fun to play with a group, but I also like that you can play against one person as well. What I enjoy most about UNO is that it is extremely easy to learn how to play. Anyone can pretty much pick up the game immediately.”
Chanel Abney’s deck was created in collaboration with Pharrell Williams’ Black Ambition, an organization created to provide a bridge to success for Black and Latino entrepreneurs launching tech, design, healthcare, and consumer product start-ups. As a part of this partnership, Mattel will make a donation to Black Ambition to support its efforts.
Priced at $20, UNO and Chanel Abney’s deck is now available for pre-order in limited quantities on creations.mattel.com. The deck will ship on January 18, 2021.
