These guys all gear towards different directions, but they create amazing art. I love them all for different but similar reasons. They all have very distinct identifyable styles, which is where an artist begins to make their mark. (It's what any artist should be aiming for.) So, here they are not in any particular order.
Banksy:
If you haven't heard of Banksy, he's famous for his thought provoking and unique street graphiti art. The way he integrates the subject of his art with the actual real environment amazes me. I'm sure you've seen his work in one form or another even if you didn't recognize it at first. His style is very graphic, but with a slice of dimension.
Check out his work here: http://www.banksy.co.uk/
Shepard Fairey(Obey Giant):
His most recognized work everyone has seen, and that is his campaign poster of Obama. You might have heard of the brand Obey Giant, which is his brand of art. He's very propaganda oriented as his art is very political. It's more in the form of posters, books, and such. Truley an inspiration.
Check his work and blog here: http://obeygiant.com/
Scott Hanson(iso50):
Scott is an amazing designer that used to do freelance design, and has now created his own brand out of own style of design and his own music. He's got a very vintage graphic style that is mixed with photography. His work also is amazing. His blog that's oriented to graphic design is fantastic.
Check out his work here: http://iso50.com/iso50.html
and blog here: http://blog.iso50.com/
and Music here: http://tychomusic.com/shop/
nick,
very nice work on your site and I enjoy the blog a lot too. your boy Banksy went off the rails on that piece you have up top though. I went through Katrina and a bunch of earlier storms and believe me, the people doing the looting for the most part were NOT in uniform, unless you consider having your ass hanging out a uniform. I wouldn’t expect a UK “artist” to know jack-shit about life in the Dirty South, though. I had a lot more respect for Banks before he put this cliche’d piece of garbage up. Maybe he’s been hitting the Moet and Mendocino green a bit too much… If his punk-ass ever got in real trouble down in the Bywater the only people who MIGHT be able to keep him breathing would be…you guessed it: wearing uniforms.
rick o. 5th ward NOLA
I read that blog title and thought of the exact same names (and a few others, including James White and Nate Duval). Scott is particularly my favorite. You’ve got awesome, taste, Nick!
I’d say you’ve got good taste! Scott’s work is amazing. I have a few of his prints as well as a few from Shepard. When I moved to LA earlier this year I was star struck to see Shepard Fairey out at events around town.
Bansky seems to be one of the few stencil artists that has been able to keep a conceptual train of thought behind his work. To me, it seems most stencil artists are just cutting to cut without putting too much thought into it other than making a cool image. Even if it does have a political message, the work is still shallow on concept. That’s not always a bad thing, you may need to take that approach to make an impression on people’s busy mind. But Bansky seems to always take it a step further.
banksy. no contest!
iso/tycho is amazing….i have some of his posters.
hope you are well nick.