The Most Popular Contemporary Artists in June

Our most viewed lists are not complete without Banksy, the most popular pseudo-anonymous graffiti artist, political activist, film director and painter. This month he takes the second place. What was new in his work and life this month? His work Paparazzi Rats was the star of the auction Urban Art: Grafitti and Street Art at Galartis auction house in Lausanne – Crissier Switzerland. Also, Grim Reaper, his painting on the ship and nightclub Thekla, was saved from rotting in the water and found a new home – the Bristol’s M Shed Museum. But even if he did absolutely nothing, Banksy would still be on our list.

The third place on our list of the most popular artists belongs to the duo Herakut, which consists of Jasmin Siddiqui aka Hera (who was also featured on our Ten Female Street Artists list this month) and Falk Lehman aka Akut. Their street art, often commissioned, can be found all over the world. Some of the smaller artworks can be seen in galleries or in the books. They have released two books – The Perfect Merge, published in 2009 and 2011’s After the Laughter. The important event in which they participated this month is the Opeh-Ohr-Festival in Mainz, Germany. Together with the children from the aptART-workshop, they painted the work called Out of Sight, Out of Mind, which aims to bring attention to refugees. It will be auctioned and all proceeds go to future aptART-projects.

The highest-ranking artist who is making a debut on our Most Viewed list is Dem189. He is a Beirut-born contemporary artist, who found a new life and discovered his love towards graffiti and urban culture when he moved to the capital of France in the 1980’s. This nomad and fervent traveler has recently settled in Melbourne, Australia, and had a first solo exhibition in the Backwoods Gallery this month. The exhibition named Ricochet presented highly detailed artworks that resemble robots and weapons of the future.  The installations and numerous works on canvas show his childhood fascination with warfare.

Another debutante on our list is Jerico. This young artist was born in the Philippines, but moved to Italy when he was ten years old. Soon after that, he started writing graffiti and developed an interest in the history of art and artists such as Van Gogh, Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon. Jerico is well-known for his expressionist paintings and murals, which depict fragmented faces and the mystery and darkness of the human soul. His newest mural, titled Distance Human-Nature is inspired by Michelangelo and the Creation of Adam. It is a part of the Big City Life project organized by 999 Contemporary and ATER – Azienda Territoriale per l’Edilizia Residenziale and Comune di Roma. Twenty artists, including Jerico, worked on transforming the area of housing projects into a gallery of street art and murals in one of Rome’s outskirts.

Cacao Rocks, the last month’s number one is on the sixth place this month. The artist who lives and works in Athens, Greece, claims that he started making street art just to impress a girl. Recently, he was featured in a BBC video, in which he connected the Greek political climate with the increasing number of graffiti on the streets. Cacao Rocks claims that any street art is in itself a political action and is a way to communicate ideas. He finds inspiration for his colorful and distinctive works in ancient murals and people on the streets. The artist has exhibited his work in galleries and museums, and participated in many street art festivals in Greece and abroad. Apart from street art, Cacao Rocks is interested in video art.

Born in Russia, but living in Greece, NAR is the artist who loves collecting things that people throw away – buttons, empty cans, old toys, pieces of used carpets, doors and old videotapes. He puts them in the holes which he chipped in the walls of abandoned buildings to make socio-political statements. He avoids busy street and ordinary walls, and prefers to make art on derelict buildings and steel doors. Apart from that, his work also includes colorful street art created with spray cans, that doesn’t have any politically-charged message.

Xavier Somers, a Belgian artist, is for the first time on our Most Viewed Artists list. Interestingly, he is not a graffiti writer, but a sculptor. Recognized for his mixed-media sculptural work, this passionate traveler finds inspiration in urban exploration and the aesthetics of steampunk genre, so he combines mechanical parts with classical Greek sculptures of gods and goddesses. His work was displayed on several group exhibitions, the most recent one being Aphrodisia, held at his representing gallery – the Galerie Geraldine Banier in Paris.

Hiroomi Ito is a Tokyo-born Japanese artist, who lives and works in Barcelona, Spain. What is specific about this artist is that he uses traditional materials and techniques that echo the style of ancient Japan to tell a modern, contemporary story. He belongs to those rare painters who still produce their own pigments out of natural dyes and minerals, and make canvases out of fine rice paper. In addition to that, he uses unusual materials, such as gold and silver leafs, uncooked Japanese bread-like food paste and roasted tea. In June, he had his first solo exhibition in the United States, held at Jan Kossen Contemporary in New York. Titled The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, the exhibition centered on the position of traditional family values in the contemporary Japanese society.

The last artist on our list is famous Tracey Emin, who came to prominence as a part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs (Young British Artists) during the 1990’s. Her over twenty years long career has been filled with provocative and controversial pieces. Her probably best known work My Bed, is again free to public viewing as a part of the Tate’s permanent collection. The iconic bed, which she didn’t leave for several days in 1998, due to suicidal depression caused by a difficult romantic breakup, was loaned to the Tate for at least 10 years.