Most Viewed Artists In July

Quite regular on our list, Nick Walker will continue to re-affirm himself as the pioneer of the British street art scene. Like Banksy, it’s one of those artists who we’ve talked about so much that we simply ran out of things to say. What we can say, however, is we could remind you of a retrospective book the British legend had come out. Entitled The Art of Nick Walker, it is a 152-page hardback with hundreds of full-color images comprising 20 years of artworks that have marked one of the most impressive street art careers in history. The book cover is his provocative Mona Lisa work, so we’re sure it’ll catch your attention.

Don Kimes is a refreshing addition to our list of most viewed artists in the past month. He is an American painter who lost 25 years of work in a flood in 2003 – works on paper, slides and photographs which documented his career. However, instead of letting it discourage him, he found beauty in destruction, and has continued making his art based on the old, destroyed artworks. Don Kimes’ art is an individual experience which talks about destruction, memory, loss, re-birth and time, but it also represents a general study of these topics for humanity as a whole. He has also been a Professor of Art at American University in Washington DC since 1998.

Banksy may be in hiatus right now, but his art is always around, either being exhibited or selling incredibly well at auctions around the world. For example, there is a retrospective exhibition of Banksy’s works at Rise Gallery in Croydon, on view until August 28th, so if you’re around, make sure you check it out. As for the art market, two of his murals – yes, murals will be detached from walls – will be auctioned off at Julien’s auction house in Beverly Hills. If both of these works sell, which they probably will, they will reach a total of $1 million. So you see, Banksy might have disappeared for a while, but his art is pretty much everywhere.

Although he started off in the world of Los Angeles street art, David Choe ended up being a figurative painter, muralist, graffiti artist and graphic novelist as well. He is also known as the guy who painted the offices of Facebook, and the guy who hosted the DVDASA show (Double Vaginal Anal Sensitive Artist), alongside pornstar Asa Akira. His art is often described as “dirty”, as it explores topics like desire, degradation and exaltation. He is sometimes ever-present in pop culture, having been an illustrator for Hustler magazine, and he also did the cover art for Jay-Z and Linking Park’s album Collision Course from 2004.

It’s Jasmin Siddiqui and Falk Lehmann yet again. The German street art duo Herakut, Hera + Akut, certainly assured their place on our list for good, as they hardly miss a month when they’re not on it. Recently, they have announced a new solo show coming up, but we still don’t know where yet. Their most recent mural found its place on a wall at the Sankt Pauli Stadium in Hamburg. It sees a young boy on the shoulders of his grandfather catching bubbles, while accompanied by a writing saying “Some People Think Of Dreams As A Waste Of Time. We Have A Different Tradition.” We’re looking forward to their new work!

Another name we don’t see often – Reso, aka Patrick Jungfleisch. He is a German graffiti artist known for his abstract letter forms. This lettering and typography artistic style is often characterized by clean colors divided into sections that fill out different abstract forms, shapes and lines. In 2014, he and his wife Silvia opened an art gallery under the name of Galerie Zimmerling & Jungfleisch, and this is where a group exhibition featuring his and works of other street artists took place in 2015. Alongside him, there were also Jef Aerosol, Vise, Hendrik Beikirch, Sen2, Remi Rough, Pro 176 and Jean Faucheur.

A very talented contemporary artist from Thailand found his place on our list of most viewed artists in July. His name is Thanawat Promsuk and he is known for his unique digital prints on canvas with yarn. His art got influenced by the turbulent times in the south of Thailand, where he grew up. At only 28, he is the recipient of many awards and recognitions from local and national art competitions. His art explores the relationship between two people through weaved canvases and woven yarns, while at the same time testing the physical characteristics of canvases and printing processes.

Traditionally the only woman artist on our list, Tracey Emin is back again. We last wrote about her while talking about artworks that couldn’t reach their low estimates at major summer exhibitions. It was her iPad drawings that sold for only $1,600. Tracey Emin’s works are currently on view as part of Aldeburgh Festival, alongside those of Mat Coleslaw and Damian Ortega. In the show, there are her reinterpretations of military symbols of Roman Standards. The exhibition is on view from June 12th until August 31st, 2015. Her art is also currently on view in Rome, London, Vienna, Madrid and Seoul.

Finally, a legend who will never die. The rarely seen notebooks of the great Jean-Michel Basquiat are currently on view at Brooklyn Museum in New York, while one of his pieces, the Orange Sports Figure from 1982, was one of the 10 Highest Sales at this year’s Summer Auctions. The painting was sold for $7,7 million at Sotheby’s in London. In a recent interview, the Queen of Pop Madonna revealed that she dated Basquiat, who took away the paintings he gave her after they broke up and destroyed them. While it’s clear that those paintings would have been of much value to the singer today, she added that the artist insisted it was his art and he could do whatever he wanted with it.