Buff Monster (born April 14, 1979) is an American painter. His work is characterized by happy characters living in brightly colored bubbly landscapes.
Buff Monster was born in Hawaii and graduated from the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
with a fine arts major.
He made a name for himself by putting up thousands of hand-silkscreened posters across Los Angeles. Along with his paintings, he has created a range of merchandise, from prints and stickers to vinyl toys and plush. In 2012 he created a homage to
Garbage Pail Kids
''Garbage Pail Kids'' is a series of sticker trading cards produced by the Topps Company, originally released in 1985 and designed to parody the '' Cabbage Patch Kids'' dolls, which were popular at the time.
Each sticker card features a Garba ...
called The Melty Misfits; a collection of vintage-style trading cards, complete with wax wrapper.
The color pink, a symbol of confidence, individuality and happiness, is present in everything he creates. He cites heavy metal music, ice cream and Japanese culture as major influences. His work has been shown in galleries worldwide, often accompanied by large installations. In 2010, the
Bristol City Museum acquired a painting of his for their permanent collection.
[. Retrieved November 6, 2013.] His art has been published in a variety of magazines, websites, newspapers and books, including Juxtapoz, Paper, Nylon, Cool Hunting, Angeleno, the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', ''
LA Weekly
''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...
'' and ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. He was also featured in
Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive ep ...
's movie: ''
Exit Through the Gift Shop''.
In 2012, Buff Monster moved from Los Angeles to live and work in New York City.
References
External links
Buff Monsteron
Artnet
Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City. It is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly-traded company based in Berlin that is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Ex ...
1979 births
Living people
20th-century American painters
American male painters
21st-century American painters
Painters from Los Angeles
American graffiti artists
20th-century American male artists
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