Another year has come to an abrupt end… For me personally this year has been utterly amazing. I’ve achieved some things I really wanted to achieve and made, what I think is some of my best work to date.
As always within that journey I have so many people to thank for pushing and inspiring me. But these 10 artists have been so inspirational in their output and development that I thought they were all worthy of a big mention.
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01 – Smash 137 / Adrian Faulkner
Smash 137 has to be at the top for me as I’ve watched his work develop so incredibly over the past year.
His show at Library Street Collective Gallery in Detroit was seminal. His murals have also really begun to take major steps forward this year too.
We’ve been talking about a painting trade for ages now and I really have to make that happen in 2014…
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02 – Pose
TenderJ has been making amazing graffiti for years but his shift to a finer pop art style of painting has been exemplary. I love his use of garish colour and the way he disrupts the images.
Another artist I would love to own a piece by.
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03 – Augustine Kofie
Augustine Kofie goes from strength to strength every year and 2013 may well have been his best year to date.
The recent mural he did in Mexico City is genre defining. He is the vanguard of the Graffuturism genre and he sells out practically every show he does.
I am very proud to have this guy on my team…
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04 – Jaybo
Few artists are capable of being World renown by only their first name but Jaybo is just that.
His recent work in the AOC show in Marrakech and in Amsterdam and his incredible show of Paper works at Soze Gallery in LA were simply amazing. It takes a certain type of person to understand Jaybo’s work. It’s refined and mature yet still has enough of a youthful edge to keep it totally fresh.
Another Agent Of Change who just gets better and better…
He also made the most amazing Cake Decorations for our wedding cake this summer!
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05 – Steve More
Steve More is probably the greatest artist you may never have even heard of… He doesn’t roll around the Miami painting walls nor is he up on every single art blog and mag. However he is a master of the studio and his work which has shades of Tapies and Ben Nicholson is outstanding!
He opened his debut solo show at Unruly Gallery in Amsterdam earlier this year and everyone’s jaws dropped as to how good the work was. So much so he has since been approached by numerous big galleries to exhibit with them.
Expect seriously big things from Steve More in 2014!
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06 – MadC
The first of two very talented female artists in my list this year. MadC is another artist like Pose who has begun to make really wide steps into the finer art world. Her work on canvas is reminiscent of Kandinsky or Matisse and has a very painterly feel which removes it from the world of graffiti but the forms and colourfield are still steeped in graffiti technique.
Claudia’s walls go from strength to strength and reference her studio work in a big way.
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07 – ElMac
El Mac is a portrait artist who has defined his own style like no other.
His walls are huge and and so detailed. Some of his most interesting work to date was actually an abstract piece he did for a show I was also part of at the Yves Laroche Gallery in Montreal.
I’d love to do some work with this guy.
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08 – Clare Price
A chance meeting in my local park whilst walking our dogs led me to meet Clare Price. I actually knew her work but meeting her gave me a chance to really get to know it well. Clare is an abstract painter who graduated some years ago from Central St. Martins. Her work is large-scale which I love and is filled with nods to the modern age of technology whilst still being fluid and painterly.
Clare is a true talent, check out her work…
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09 – SHOK-1
SHOK-1 has had an incredible year… As well as the numerous collaborations we’ve done together he has completed an entire series of X-Rainbow murals and finally put together his first solo show of works at Pictures On Walls, which I hasten to add has almost entirely sold out. His skill with a spray can knows no bounds and he is a rare breed amongst todays spray can genre as he’s highly conceptual within his work.
Incredible artist…
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10 – Risk
Risk is one of my oldest friends in the game. We met in Bridlington in 1989 and have pretty much stayed in touch ever since. His futuristic/retro take on graffiti has taken him to amazing new heights this year. He never stops… He’s always just landing somewhere and then just taking off and somewhere in between he always finds time to paint amazing walls. His new giant colourfield murals are a beautiful reference to his environment. He has also been doing some amazing collaborations with artists all over the world.
A true master of his genre.
