Michael Genovese

As far as excitement levels go, I'm pretty high on finding Michael's work. He never went to art school and is a "professional" sign painter in Chicago, yet his thought and vision and inspiration far outweighs 99% of the creative people I've met. His work is almost totally text based, whether it's graffiti text, Latino sign text or book type. He's worked on canvas, tin, zinc, steel and he's had solo shows around the country. If you haven't seen his work you should go to these links and look at it right away.

Read more about him here.

Check out the work here.

The Date Farmers

The Date Farmers were just that until they were discovered by a gallery owner in Los Angeles as the new hot folk art duo. They worked in the California date groves during the day and painted Latino cultural inspired works at night. They take ques from the hand painted signs of urban bodegas. Of Dia de Los Muertes figurines and legends. From Libre wrestling heroes and accessories. The work is truly beautiful and primitive by design.

Check it out here.

Os Gemeos

Os Gemeos are twin brothers from Brazil that I've been following for years. Their style is unlike any graffiti here in the States. It's really reflective of the unique culture and climate that Brazil offers. Their characters are depicted in a very playful, cartoony style that makes they infinite and tangible to anyone in any country while maintaining a uniquely Brazillian look.

Check them out here.

Evan Hecox

Evan is a great illustrator / painter. He works in a really graphic style that's due to the fact that he works in woodcuts. He takes a lot of photo studies of things that interest him, mostly urban scenes. His subjects range from crowds in Mexico to teahouses in NYC.

Check it out here.

And here.

David Jon Kassan

David's work isn't something that would normally catch my eye, except that he's so damn good. He's a realist painter from NYC and his canvases are so rich and full of detail they're impossible not to linger in front of. He also has a beautiful knack for being drawn to the mundane. A tagged wall, a bored friend. It really is gorgeous work.

Check it out here.

Simon Evans

Simon Evans is a British artist living and working in Berlin. His art communicates about loneliness, self-reflection, newness and unfamiliarity. His new series focuses on his new surroundings in Berlin and the isolation it creates. He works in photo, painting and collage.

Check it out here.

Agnes Montgomery

Agnes Montgomery is a collage artist from Philadelphia. She works on a tiny scale to create her intricate collages. She uses a magnifying lamp and tiny scissors to put together her images, then she scans them to enlarge them and prints them on canvas. I'm not a huge fan of inkjets on canvas, but in her case I would make an exception since her images are so awesome.

Check it out here.