If you haven’t yet heard the news, the StockX Collectibles catalog has expanded to include Art Prints from the contemporary art world’s biggest names. Art prints from artists like Daniel Arsham, Hebru Brantley, Shephard Fairey, Matt Gondek, KAWS, and more, are now available to buy and sell alongside the vinyl figures, plushes, and collectibles that have become so popular. For those new to the category, or even just those looking for a refresher of these art juggernauts’ careers, we’ve put together a short breakdown of some of the most popular artists whose prints are now available on StockX.
Daniel Arsham
Daniel Arsham takes architectural spaces and objects and does things with them that they’re not supposed to do. A Miami-born contemporary artist who works out of New York City, Arsham’s work focuses on spatial manipulation and its relationship to architecture and time. He wraps figures in walls, creates clocks that appear to be caught in the surfaces they sit on, and creates contemporary objects cast in what appears to be volcanic ash, as if they’ve been preserved for thousands of years.
Arsham attended The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, where he received the Gelman Trust Fellowship Award. In 2007, the artist and his partner, Alex Mustonen, founded the pair’s multi-disciplinary practice, Snarkitecture. Arsham’s work has been featured in galleries and shows around the world and as of July 1st, 2021, he is an official StockX partner.
With the new Daniel Arsham x StockX partnership, StockX is now the official secondary marketplace of Daniel Arsham Editions so you know you’re going through an artist approved process.
KAWS
KAWS is one of the most impactful street artists to emerge in pop culture in recent history. The artist started his career 25 years ago in the New York graffiti scene. Soon after adopting his moniker in 1996, KAWS created Companions. These beloved characters would become one of the platforms for KAWS’ massive success – appearing as massive sculptures and smaller scale vinyl figures the world over. In the 2000s, he became the darling of A-list hip-hop and fashion circles, drawing the attention of NIGO, Pharrell Williams, and Kanye West. In 2008, Kanye West officially cosigned the artist, tapping him to create the album artwork for the deluxe version of West’s 808’s & Heartbreak album.
Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey’s body of work blurs the lines between street art and advertising. In 1989, Shepard began experimenting with the first images that would become synonymous with OBEY, the clothing company that he founded. These initial experiments became known as Fairey’s André the Giant Has a Posse sticker campaign, where he placed stickers affixed with that slogan and the wrestler’s face. In a 2002 Washington Post interview, Fairey said the campaign generated more attention and notoriety than he ever imagined and helped crystallize his thinking about the power of ambiguous, but bold imagery.
After the initial sticker campaign, Fairey continued to replicate this strategy, most notably during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. He created the now-iconic HOPE poster in support of Barack Obama’s campaign and as a result of its success the HOPE portrait is now part of the U.S. Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection, helping to elevate Fairey’s name to international fame. Although Fairey’s work has raised several questions about the fair use of imagery, it is undeniable that he is one of the most influential artists of his era.
Takashi Murakami
Takashi Murakami is a Japanese Artist whose “Superflat” style – heavily influenced by anime illustration – has made him into one of the most prominent artists in contemporary art. In 2002, Takashi Murakami began his lengthy collaborative career with Louis Vuitton at the invitation of Marc Jacobs. Murakami’s re-imagining of the signature Louis Vuitton Monogram was a massive success, and the artist was hailed for blurring the lines between art and commercialism. In 2007 Murakami provided the artwork for Kanye West’s album, Graduation, further cementing himself in pop culture.
More recently, he provided the artwork for Kanye West and Kid Cudi’s joint album, Kids See Ghosts, and has begun releasing collectible figure versions of his popular characters. Takashi Murakami has also recently collaborated with the likes of Supreme, Virgil Abloh, and Billie Eilish.
Futura
Futura’s artistic career began in the New York City subway system as a self-taught graffiti artist alongside other prominent artists including Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. In the 2021 book, Futura-isms, he talked about being as much a fan as he was a participant in the graffiti scene of the 1970s, as well as his sci-fi influences including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, and Star Wars.
In 1980, Futura solidified his art cred beyond the graffiti community after executing his whole car masterpiece, Break. Break deconstructed graffiti by focusing on color, design, and style while doing away with traditional lettering all together. In the decades following, Futura established himself as a major player in the global art scene with gallery shows, installations, and commercial work. Futura has worked with several clients throughout his illustrious career including Nike, Chanel, BMW, Off-White, even The Clash. While Futura has explored several mediums, his iconic use of color, design, and characters developed in his subway days still heavily inform his work.
Hebru Brantley
Dubbed “Chicagoan of the Year” in 2019 by the Chicago Tribune, Hebru Brantley is a hometown favorite. By 2021, Brantley’s reach and popularity has gone far beyond Chicagoland. As a teenager, Brantley cut his teeth on the South Side of Chi-town tagging walls and marking train cars. Not long after he turned 16, his mother introduced him to Basquiat’s work, and he was entranced says Chicago Mag. After high school, Brantley moved to Atlanta for college and in 2002 he sold his first painting for $800 to DJ Drama. Since then, Hebru Brantley has become a massive name in popular culture, with cosigns from Lil Wayne to Carmelo Anthony to Chance The Rapper.
Hebru Brantley’s artwork is manifested through all kinds of mediums, with a thematic focus on Black American History. His paintings, sculptures, and murals often include his two most popular characters, Fly Boy and Lil’ Mama, who are used to address the concepts of nostalgia and hope. Collectors of Hebru Brantley’s work include George Lucas, LeBron James, and Jay-Z.
Matt Gondek
Since he began creating his own comics as a kid, Matt Gondek immersed himself in the world of cartoons and art. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Gondek is a self-taught artist who has built his career on distorting and deconstructing the images of famous cartoon characters. His deconstructionist work has included blowing the face off of Homer Simpson, as well as melting Marvin the Martian’s flesh straight to the bone.
To Gondek, his work was never meant as a critique of popular culture, rather, he uses the familiar imagery of his youth to communicate his personal story, ideas, and messages.
James Jean
James Jean did not even explore the medium of painting until he attended the School of Visual Arts in New York for illustration. As a child, Jean was constantly doodling, but it was when he was introduced to comic books at the age of 13 that his appreciation for art began to grow. After college he started his career as an illustrator, his portfolio includes cover art for DC and Marvel comics, as well as Time Magazine, The New York Times, ESPN, and Prada.
In 2008 Jean gave up his illustration work in order to pursue painting full time. James Jean’s artwork is defined by bright colors that present disorienting and dream-like images. This style is inspired by his sketchbooks, where he freely and fully explores his creative ideas. Jean takes inspiration from Chinese scroll paintings as well as Japanese woodblock prints. Many of his works are heavily informed by Baroque-era painting, where the characters are captured at the height of their actions.
