Skyler Grey Frolicking in Abundance 2022
 Skyler Grey Frolicking in Abundance 2022

SKYLER GREY

LA-based artist Skyler Grey draws on comic book heroes, Saturday morning cartoons, and luxury brands for a new perspective on iconic imagery.

BIO

Often referred to as “The Fresh Prince of Street Art,” Skyler Grey (b. 2000, Los Angeles) defines Contemporary Pop Art for a new century. His bold figurations freely appropriate iconography such as Mickey Mouse, Popeye and Batman alongside luxury brands Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermes. These maximalist compositions deftly combine silk-screens, acrylic, spraypaint and surfaces flocked with diamond dust. While the legacies of artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring inform Grey’s practice, he experiments with upending traditional notions of painting and presentation in a singular vocabulary which speaks to his experience as a young Black male in modern America. Grey’s series America the Beautiful, which stemmed from the social-political climate of 2020, was situated as a two-act body of work drawing on comic book heroes and champions of the Saturday morning cartoon.

More recently, Grey has ventured into sculpture-making at a level comparable to that of his Contemporary-Pop peers Takashi Murakami, KAWS, and Jeff Koons. He extracts characters and motifs from his paintings, such as Mickey Lagerfeld and Chanel-clad Olive Oyl, and translates them into vibrant, candy-colored sculptures. Grey also dives into the world of Abstraction with his series inspired by Mark Rothko, showing the evolving maturity of the young artist’s practice. Following a visit to the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas, Grey has taken on this body of work as an homage to the color field studies of the great Modernist painter. 

Grey found his way to art by way of catharsis. Enrolled in art classes at an early age following his mother’s untimely death, Grey funnels raw emotion into the stock imagery of consumerism. In 2019, he was commissioned to design and paint a unique Aventador S model by the Italian luxury sports automobile brand, Lamborghini. Only 19 years old at the time, he is the only artist to have ever touched a brush to a Lamborghini vehicle, let alone “the first legal street art on wheels” (Forbes Magazine, 2019). Grey’s work has been exhibited extensively at Avant Gallery (Miami and New York), at the Norton Museum of Art (Palm Beach, Florida), Trace Gallery (Switzerland), Graffik Gallery (London). In 2022 Grey participated in his first major auction via Sotheby’s.

Lamborghini Aventador S

Learn how Street artist Skyler Grey creates a perfectly imperfect work of art

I feel like, if we look at this car, this is Skyler Grey and this is Lamborghini, all in one

Skyler grey
Skyler Grey You Don't Belong Here 2020
SKYLER GREY

You Don’t Belong Here

Aerosol and acrylic canvas

"The [America the Beautiful] series was my gut reaction to what was going on in America and in the world because of COVID-19. I wanted to give my audience a story from a different lens, instead of the lovely mask paintings I was seeing....each painting is an emotion or compromised position."

I don't feel added pressure because the only reason people compare me to [Basquiat] is because of ethnicity and age range. But really, he started at 19 and expressed himself differently, so I feel I'm actually writing a new storyline, instead of filling his shoes

skyler grey on being compared to Jean-Michel Basquiat
Skyler Grey After Rothko, Rose Gold with Mickey and Minnie 2021
Skyler Grey After Rothko, Rose Gold with Mickey and Minnie 2021
Skyler Grey Fashions Finest 2019
Skyler Grey Fashions Finest 2019

cv

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022
Art For Ukraine, Avant Gallery

2021
Art is Life, Avant Gallery

2019
There Goes the Neighborhood: New Art for The New, New York, Avant Gallery

ART FAIRS

2022
Avant Gallery at Art Miami 2022, Avant Gallery

2021
Avant Gallery at Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary | Art Wynwood 2021, Avant Gallery

2020
Avant Gallery at Art Wynwood 2020, Avant Gallery

2019
Avant Gallery at Art Miami 2019, Avant Gallery

Avant Gallery at Art New York 2019, Avant Gallery

Avant Gallery at Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary 2019, Avant Gallery

press
Skyler Grey is Turning Heads

Skyler Grey is Turning Heads

Aventura Magazine, February 2022

Skyler Grey is Turning Heads

Aventura Magazine, February 2022

Meet the 19-year-old artist showing his work at Hudson Yards

Meet the 19-year-old artist showing his work at Hudson Yards

Page Six, March 2019

Meet the 19-year-old artist showing his work at Hudson Yards

Page Six, March 2019

Skyler Grey: Why the Fresh Prince of Art Could Soon Be King

Skyler Grey: Why the Fresh Prince of Art Could Soon Be King

Skyler Grey: Why the Fresh Prince of Art Could Soon Be King

See Street Artist Skyler Grey Transform This Lamborghini Aventador S Into A Unique Collectable Pop Art

See Street Artist Skyler Grey Transform This Lamborghini Aventador S Into A Unique Collectable Pop Art

Forbes, August 2019

See Street Artist Skyler Grey Transform This Lamborghini Aventador S Into A Unique Collectable Pop Art

Forbes, August 2019