KOFIE ONE

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(1973, Los Angeles, US)

Augustin Kofie, or KofieOne, grew up in and has made Los Angeles his lifetime home. He has been active in the LA Graffiti community since the mid-nineties. Many of his murals and productions are still on view. As he has developed over the year, his work reflects his wide range of interests: architectural templates, deconstructed lettering, vintage collage paper, contemporary music, and 1960's-70's iconography. 

Recently he became a member of the Agents of Change, a tight crew of progressive graffiti artists, which also includes Jaybo Monk and Derm from this exhibition as well. He also is a member of the Transcend Collective with Joker, Poesia and more.

With a deep interest in process and structure, Kofie creates works of intense detail centered on the order of balance. The precision of Kofie’s “drafted” art is strongly inspired by modern architecture as well as the form and shape of deconstructed typography.  In his quest for balance, Kofie harmonizes opposing and contradictory dynamics in his work by setting futuristic compositions against vintage earth-toned palettes and collaged graphics, creating organically complex formations through meticulously structured line-work and layering. His style has been dubbed Vintage Futurism.

Watch this video about Kofie One by All City Canvas:


KMNDZ

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(Los Angeles, US)

KMNDZ, aka Johnny Rodriguez, is a Los Angeles artist who paints weatherbeaten, suffering steampunk robots and mysterious mechanical devices with street-art style and masterly technique.

A successful leader in the graphic design community, this Los Angeles based artist, has worked for some of the world’s premier design agencies and top entertainment companies. With brands like MTV Networks, Universal Pictures, Microsoft, Lexus, Disney, and Activision populating his resume, Johnny has built an impressive portfolio of both artistic and technological accomplishments in the world of graphic design and new-media. However, first and foremost, Johnny is an artist. He attributes his success in commercial design as a direct result of his passion for art. KMDNZ is about both the past and the future.

Rodriguez’s personal work is quite different from his commercial endeavors. When he sits down to paint, he puts aside the pressures of mass appeal and commercial accessibility, and instead focuses on creating art for himself. Drawing from his own life, his paintings are filled with memories of family and friends, religious undertones, and iconic elements. A recent piece features a drawing of an audio cassette embedded into a hand grenade. This represents a tough look back at the time when his father left their family to fight a war in Nicaragua, and left only an audio recording to explain his actions. 

Watch Johnny painting in his studio:

KAMI

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(1999)

Known for their large murals and installations that draw upon their personal inspirations, Kami and Sasu collaborate to build stunning iconographies. Drawing from traditional Japanese Calligraphy and sprawling patterns, they create new sensual forms in bold colors that represent their signature style. As a duo, their work is recognized by Kami’s strong line work and Sasu’s distinctive patterns.

Watch this video of Hitotzuki by Giant Robot:


JUSTIN GABBARD

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(California, US)

Justin Gabbard is an illustrator and letterer working out of his east bay studio.  His editorial client list includes The New Yorker, New York Times, New York Magazine, Wired, Afar, Scientific American, and many others. His work was most recently featured in Taschen’s Illustration Now volume 5. His works blends both hand drawn and digital media, including animation for such clients as Emirates Airlines and Microsoft. 

Justin Earned his MFA from the School of Visual art in New York in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program and his work has been recognized by American Illustration, 3x3, and Communication Arts.

JOSHUA BLANK

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During the turn of the century Joshua Blank was attending San Francisco Art Institute studying painting and film when he dropped out of school to move to Paris for six months to live in an abandoned building. When he returned to the US he began teaching himself photography and was reunited with Pez who he had met many years before in NYC. 

In 2004 Joshua moved back to New York City where his focus shifted to youth and street fashion photography. He also worked for Smack Mellon Gallery and began to do art handling for galleries and museums around New York and attended the Photography Program at Parsons the New School for Design where he received his BFA. During this time he continued to draw but kept his work private and would never show it to anyone. 

In late 2009, he moved back to San Francisco to photograph his friends and embark on new projects that seemed impossible in NYC. He has worked as a photo journalist and news writer in the Bronx and has shot assignments for Time Out New York, Toast Magazine, and has  contributed photos to several issues of Vice. He also worked as a product and party photographer. He has exhibited his work in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Austin and in Paris.

Watch this video by Walrus TV:


JESÚS BENÍTEZ

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(1985, Mexico City)

Jesús "Dhear" Benítez's style is a mixture of illustration, painting and graffiti, which dominates all disciplines, practices and mergers. His works often represent animal and plant organisms that curious abstraction, without losing its essence of fantasy.

Watch this video by adidasoriginalsmx:


JEREMY SIMMONS

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(Los Angeles, US)

Jeremy holds a BFA (2001) and MFA (2003) in Drawing and Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. He is an interdisciplinary artist who was born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles. His most recent work was shown at the Helen Day Art Center in Vermont and Ever Gold Gallery in San Francisco. Jeremy spends his free time with his 5 year-old son, watching 70’s television, and listening to heavy metal.

JEREMY FISH

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(1974, New York, US)

With a degree in painting and a focus in screenprinting Jeremy Fish's education and work experience has lead to a career as a fine artist, and a commercial illustrator. Finding a balance between exhibiting his work both across the US, and internationally in galleries and museums. while maintaining a presence designing skateboards, t-shirts, vinyl toys, album covers, periodical illustrations, murals, and sneakers. The artwork is mainly about storytelling and communication, told through a library of characters and symbols. With an emphasis on finding a balance with the imagery somewhere between all things cute and creepy. Jeremy is based in North Beach aka little italy, and has lived in San Francisco for the last 20 years.


JAVIER ROCABADO

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(1959, Bolivia)

Often times Javier Rocabado combines themes into installations that feature real US currency alongside human figures or icons and real objects. These icons are then embellished with 22 k Gold Leaf halos, cultured pearls, semi-precious stones, 18k gold and silver jewelry, the vials of used injectable HIV medications filled with holy water or olive oils. I also use inert bullets, maps, cloth and a myriad of common house-hold objects.

Although he uses a variety of materials, his theme and methodology is consistent in each of the art pieces in this series. All the pieces are linked by recurring formal concerns and throughout the subject matter. The subject matter of each piece thus determines the materials to be used and the form the piece will take.

JASON JÄGEL

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(1971, Boston, US)

Jason Jägel received degrees from California College of Arts and Crafts and Stanford University. A monograph of his work entitled, Seventy-Three Funshine, was created with an accompanying ten-inch vinyl record with music by Madlib and published by Electric Works, San Francisco.

Jägel has been featured in numerous solo and group shows since 1995 including those in New York, Tokyo, Copenhagen, Milan, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Seattle, New Orleans and more. Jagel's work appears in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The UCLA Hammer Museum and the Portland Museum of Art, among others. Jason lives with his wife and two daughters in San Francisco.

Watch this video about his art by World Media TV:


INSA

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(United Kingdom)

INSA was born in the United Kingdom and began painting at the age of 12. Prior to this age, he made low, low budget horror films with his friends, and even counts Nightmare on Elm Street’s monstrous Freddie Krueger among his creative influences. The artist is distinguished by the seamless mix of reality and fantasy apparent in all his work. His art is always changing, to the surprise and excitement of his viewers.

His strong opinions regarding popular culture and consumerism are what his art is all about. INSA wants to be known through his art, not by any personal characteristics. He keeps his private life very private, but is most willing to talk about his life and thoughts as an artist. This shrouded identity keeps others from pretending to be like him and allows his viewers to conjure up their own image of who INSA is and what he looks like. He may be of any race, age or physiognomy. In INSA’s view, whatever the viewer imagines, that is what the artist looks like. The one thing he does want his audience to understand about him is his belief that fantasy is always better than reality.

Watch this White Walls project video by Unit44: