Prominent US Street Artists
Street art has a long tradition in the United States, while its artists have profoundly influenced the street art scene throughout the globe. Listed below are only a few of many US artists who gained an international reputation and made an important contribution to street art as we know it today.
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Seen UA (Richard “Richie” Mirando). Also known as “the godfather of graffiti”, the New York based artist started his career in the city’s subway as early as 1973. He did not pioneer the graffiti movement but he and his United Artists (UA) quickly established a reputation for their creations. In the early 1980s, Seen started to create artworks on canvas that were highly sought after by both individual collectors and galleries. But he continued drawing graffiti on subway trains until the late 1980s. Today, the artist continues to exhibit his artworks but he also participates in street art projects with other notable artists.
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George Lee Quinones. Just like Seen, Lee Quinones rose to prominence with subway graffiti in the 1970s. By the mid-1970s, he was already an authority in the graffiti art scene and a source of inspiration for graffiti artists throughout the world. Today, his artworks are housed in many prominent museums and galleries throughout Europe and the United States.
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Fab 5 Freddy (Fred Brathwaite). He started his artistic career in the New York subway in the 1970s. He was a member of the graffiti group known as The Fabulous 5 which also included Lee Quinones. By the late 1970s, the two and some other members of the collective began to shift to the mainstream art and in 1979, the two artists exhibited in the Galleria LaMedusa in Rome, Italy. Fab 5 Freddy is also known as a hip hop pioneer who has made a number of prominent contributions to the hip-hop culture.
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Cope2 (Fernando Carlo). The New York based graffiti artist who began his career in the 1970s is perhaps best known for “wildstyle” graffiti. He has also achieved a major commercial success, working for companies such as Adidas, Converse, Time Magazine and many others. Despite that, he seems to be unable to resist “illegal” street art. In 2010, Carlo was arrested for allegedly painting subway cars in Manhattan.
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ZEPHYR (Andrew Witten). Another graffiti artist from New York has been creating graffiti since the mid-1970s and is along artists such as PHASE 2 and Futura 2000 considered one of the most influential graffiti artists in the world. In the 1980s, he exhibited in specialised galleries in New York and established himself as a highly sought after artist among both galleries and private collectors.