Social media users have shared postings online saying Nike CEO Mark Parker poses surrounded by ‘disturbing artwork’. This assertion lacks context; Parker is the former, not current, CEO of Nike, and photos show that he has a large variety of artwork in his office, including some from surrealist artist Mark Ryden.
Examples can be seen here and here.
The text on one post reads: “Dark to light is no joke! These people must be taken down! CEO of Nike’s disturbing artwork. “Another one reads: ‘The evil people who rule this world … the synagogue of satan … this’ ppl’ is SICK. ‘
Parker has been the chairman, president and CEO of Nike for 14 years and still serves as executive chairman, according to Nike’s website (here). He will retire as Nike CEO in 2020 and will be replaced by John Donahoe (here).
Mark Ryden is an artist known for his “pop-surrealism” paintings with cultural connotations. His work ranges from “cryptic to cute, following a fine line between nostalgic cliché and disturbing archetype”, according to his website, here.
An article published by The Wall Street Journal on November 7, 2013, contains the same photo of Parker in his office as in social media reports, with Ryden’s “The Magic Circus” and “Pink Lincoln” paintings appearing behind Parker here is visible and www.markryden.com/pink-lincoln. The article discusses Parker’s creativity and mentions that his work contains Ryden’s artwork.
More photos of Parker’s office can be seen in an article published in 2011 by Freshness magazine. Ryden’s artwork is among the many design and art items in the room.
Parker has objects by many artists, including Riusuke Fukahori (visible here, similar works here) and a piece by Kris Kuksi here, visible in the photo in the claim.
“Parker’s office is crammed with an insane collection of art and shoes that manifest all the different influences and iterations of the Nike lineage,” reads the Freshness article.
Artwork shown in the article includes ‘Maple Tree Nymph’ here and ‘The Creatix’ www.markryden.com/the-creatix.
The social media posts appear after the release of a pair of “Satan Shoes” claiming to contain a drop of human blood as part of a collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X of “Old Town Road”. contains red ink and “one drop of human blood” in the sole, according to a website describing the 666 pairs of limited edition shoes (here).
Nike sued the company on March 29, 2021, the same day the shoes were released, saying that manufacturer MSCHF Product Studio Inc had infringed its brand on the devil-themed black-and-red shoes (here).
Social media users have reacted strongly since the release of the shoes and expressed their disgust in reports (examples here, here and here).
VERDICT
Missing context. Mark Parker is the former, not current, CEO of Nike and has had artwork by surrealist artist Mark Ryden in his office, including artwork and design items.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.