Banksy has reached world wide fame for his street art. He is the subject of many books, magazine articles and his works sells in auctions and galleries world wide. However, there are many other artists that are putting out amazing work and deserve some praise. In the spirit of ackowledging those street artists I have compiled a top ten list of street artist you should know. I am using this list as a catalyst for conversation, on that note, you should feel free to propose your own top ten!

10. Imminent Disaster / 9. NeckFace

Imminent Disaster’s paper cut stencils are often inspired by her love for 18th and 19th century oil paintings, specifically by Caravaggio. Although not the sole body of her work, she often portrays women in her art work. Imminent Disaster started her quest in public art with culture jamming – adding and altering advertisements in popular stores.

Neckface is a bay area artist that now lives and works in New York. His work is known internationally – i have seen his tags in major cities like Tokyo and Rome. He paints creatures in tighty whities, huge crawly hands and other creatures that are both comical and disturbing.

8. Elbow Toe / 7. Jef Aerosol

Elbow Toe is a Brooklyn based artist known for his figurative works on paper. He uses a range of medium from charcoal to acrylic paint. He creates large woodcuts, drawings and paintings which are then carefully placed in an urban setting.

Jef Aerosol is one of the first French street artists in the early 80s. His main body of work consists of witty stencils and can be seen in Paris, London, Venice and Amsterdam. Jef Aerosol works mainly in black and white and has a great graphic sensiblity.
6. Blu / 5. Seen

Blu is an artist from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is known for large scale paintings of human like creatures all over the world. Blu has some very impressive animation that you should also google. I first saw Blu’s work in Verona. There is a new book published of his works between 2004 and 2007. Go out and cop this!

Seen is an artist from the Bronx, New York (my hometown). He is known as The Godfather of Graffiti and was one of the artist featured in the documentary Style Wars (a must watch film by PBS). Originally a graffiti artist, Seen, started producing works on canvas and has shown with many of the other great street artists of the early 80s including Basquiat and Keith Haring.

4. Obey / 3. Swoon

Shepard Fairey is an artist, graphic designer, illustrator that started the Obey Giant campaign while he was a student at RISD. This artist has an amazing “take it to the street” mentality. His images have a viral way of spreading across america. Most recently, his Obama Hope posters are images that have shaped the Obama campaign.

Swoon is originally from Florida but now lives and works in New York. She often portrays women issues in her artwork which mostly consists of paper cutouts. I first met Swoon when I was helping at the Feral show at the Luggage Store Gallery in an Francisco. Although most of her work is in the streets, she is shown in galleries world wide. Swoon has a formal art education from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

2. Barry McGee / 1. Os Gemeos

Barry McGee, also known as Twist, is an artist from San Francisco. He got his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and originally worked as a graffiti artist. After being included in the Venice Biennale, alot of Barry’s work was scavenged and stolen. He was married to Margaret Kilgallen (honorable mention, RIP). He is also one of the founding fathers of the low brow art movement and the mission school.

While I am not sure if they should count (because they are really two people), my top post goes to Os Gemeos (portuguese for the twins). Os Gemeos are a pair of twins from Brazil, their work consists of large scale cartoon figures with intricate patterns on their clothes often scaling entire building facades. I love these guys because they represent alot of the elements of hip hop cultures; they started out as break dancers before moving on to being graffiti artists. I also found out about these guys from “The Luggage Store” where they had their first US solo exhibition.

Honorable Mentions: Blek le Rat, Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada, James de la Vega, Margaret Kilgallen, Kill Pixie , Graffiti Research Lab, Dreck, HaHa

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT. LIKE I SAID AT THE BEGINNING I WANT THIS LIST TO BE A CATALYST FOR DISCUSSION! WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE? WHY?

We never cease to be amazed with Swoon whose large-scale works we most often find hiding in obscure alleyways and street-sides worldwide. The most recent series of work featuring young Mexican women are scattered all over the streets of San Francisco. One piece in particular, an instillation at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts sits as a life size shrine, commenting on the disappearance of young Mexican women ages 16-24; whose disappearances have not only been neglected, but disregarded by Mexican government officials.

A similar piece lives in the Mission district of San Francisco. Untouched and undisturbed, this piece resides majestically between 24th and Hampshire. Extremely detailed and thoughtfully placed, the carefully stenciled piece appears to be a large orb of light emanating from a young woman. The girl’s eyes are innocent and tender, nervous and unsure, looking up from her traditional quincinera attire symbolizing her recent initiation into womanhood and an age of coming.

As the piece draws you in, one recognizes the elaborately carved skulls hiding in the orb, a representation of mortality often seen in religious artwork. There are many skulls, which may comment on the vast amount of girls who have gone missing and whose families await the day they can put them to rest. Also hiding in the orb are monarch butterflies and feathers, symbols of flight. According to Mexican folklore, the butterflies are said to present themselves as family members who have passed on.

Swoon modestly states that it is her sales from private collectors that fund her public works which remain art the heart of her process. These public works are what made her popular with urban art lovers across the globe. Her mission in making art available to the public sits at the heart of the Curbs & Stoops mission and for this we are elated to share this piece with you.