Lushsux is an anonymous Australian street artist whose works have received international coverage. Based in Melbourne, he is best known for his large murals that draw on internet meme culture, as well as popular culture more broadly. He has been called "the prototypical post-Internet artist" [1] and "Australia's answer to Banksy". [2]
Lushsux stated that he grew up in a working-class family in the western suburbs of Melbourne, and worked in a factory before becoming a full-time artist. Since his first gallery show in Collingwood in 2010, Lushsux has been supported by Sarah Powell and Andrew King, patrons of the Melbourne street art scene. [3]
Lushsux has been selling NFTs of his artworks since 2021. [4] His art has been auctioned in various platforms, including Nifty Gateway, SuperRare and MakersPlace. His art was exhibited at "DART2121" in Milan [5] and at Art Basel 2021 in Miami, in collaboration with auction house Christie's. [6]
In August 2016, he created a mural in Footscray of a skimpily-dressed Hillary Clinton. After the local council received complaints from members of the public, Lushsux painted a burqa over Clinton. [7]
Special criticism has been made of Lushsux's interventions in the West Bank separation barrier in Bethlehem. [8] [9] His art in the wall has been criticized for trying to make fun of a serious issue, spreading many meme-like images and humorous scenes over the separation wall. [10] In one controversial scene, he uses a Nelson Mandela quote in a mural depicting actor Morgan Freeman, which has been considered to potentially express the racist stereotype that Black people supposedly look the same. [11] His painting of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu kissing has been accused of trying to use homophobic humor, while his representations of Jewish stereotypes have been considered antisemitic. [11]
In September 2018 he angered 50 Cent with a mural of him. [12] In October 2018 he parodied Kanye West and Donald Trump's friendship by creating the character "Donye West". In March 2019 he parodied Anderson "The Spider" Silva showing him dressed as Spider-Man. [13]
In 2020, he started painting murals of 50 Cent again, creating multiple mashups that "reimagine" the rapper as another public figure, including Mike Tyson ("50 Thent"), Mike Pence ("50 Pence") and Taylor Swift ("Swifty Cent"). [14] 50 Cent reposted many of the murals on his social media, expressing both admiration for the artist's skill, but also anger over being consistently targeted by him. In May 2020, Lushsux stated that he was hospitalised after being attacked by a group of men while painting another 50 Cent mural. [15]
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Curtis James Jackson III, known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, television producer, and businessman. Born in South Jamaica, a neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In early 2000, he recorded his "debut" album Power of the Dollar for Columbia Records, however he was struck by nine bullets during a shooting in May of that year, causing its release to be cancelled and Jackson to be dropped from the label. In 2002, Jackson released the mixtape Guess Who's Back?, and was thereafter discovered by Eminem and signed to his label Shady Records, an imprint of Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.
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 epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed in a distinctive stenciling technique. His works of political and social commentary have appeared on streets, walls, and bridges throughout the world. His work grew out of the Bristol underground scene, which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. Banksy says that he was inspired by 3D, a graffiti artist and founding member of the musical group Massive Attack.
Ye is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. One of the world's best-selling music artists with 160 million records sold, West has won 24 Grammy Awards, the joint tenth-most of all time and most awarded for any hip hop artist jointly with Jay-Z. His other accolades include a Billboard Artist Achievement Award, a joint-record three Brit Awards for Best International Male Solo Artist and the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
Mark Machado, better known as Mr. Cartoon or more commonly just Cartoon or Toon, is an American tattoo artist and graffiti artist based in Los Angeles, California. Growing up in the Harbor area of Los Angeles County, young Cartoon began doing illustrations and graffiti then going on to airbrushing clothing and lowrider custom cars. Machado then moved on to working in the music industry doing album covers, tour merchandise, and later tattooing recording artists and other celebrities.
Graduation is the third studio album by the American rapper and producer Kanye West released on September 11, 2007, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. Recording sessions took place between 2005 and 2007 at several studios in New York and Los Angeles. It was primarily produced by West himself, with contributions from various other producers, including DJ Toomp. The album also features guest appearances from recording artists such as Dwele, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Mos Def, DJ Premier, and Chris Martin. The cover art and its interior artwork were designed by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami.
Rone is the pseudonym of Tyrone Wright, a street artist based in Melbourne, Australia.
Horace Day, also Horace Talmage Day, was an American painter of the American scene who came to maturity during the Thirties and was active as a painter over the next 50 years. He traveled widely in the United States and continued to explore throughout his life subjects that first captured his attention as an artist in the Thirties. He gained early recognition for his portraits and landscapes, particularly his paintings in the Carolina Lowcountry.
ROA is a graffiti and street artist from Ghent, Belgium. He has created works on the streets of cities across Europe, the United States, Australia, Asia, New Zealand and Africa. ROA generally paints wild or urban animals and birds that are native to the area being painted. ROA usually uses a minimal color palette, such as black and white, but also creates works using vibrant colours depicting the flesh or internal systems within the animals and birds.
"ROA treats each surface he paints like a space to investigate, play with, and fit his creatures into. The technical perfection of his painting belies an underlying resourcefulness with simple tools,” “The animals are matched to their location, with rats in New York City and elephants in Bangkok. There are dark and funny messages, the beauty of both life and death, universal metaphors, inside jokes, and occasional violence, but always in ways that honor the animals and the spaces where they are painted."
Hanksy is the pseudonym for New York City-based street artist and parodist Adam Lucas, who also goes by Adam Himebauch. His artwork under the moniker Hanksy includes recreations of Banksy street art adapted to include a cartoon interpretation of actor Tom Hanks.
Make Everything Great Again was a street art mural by artists Dominykas Čečkauskas and Mindaugas Bonanu. It was located on the wall of the barbecue restaurant Keulė Rūkė in the railway station area of old town of Vilnius in Lithuania.
Gregory Michael Mensching, commonly known as Greg Mike, is an American artist. He began doing graffiti at age 13, and transitioned into murals in his later twenties. He is known for street art, mural painting and Loudmouf Icon in the United States, Australia, Canada and Switzerland. In 2008, he founded ABV Gallery and Agency in Atlanta, GA which exhibits artists from around the world and works with brands on commercial design projects.
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that is recorded on a blockchain and is used to certify ownership and authenticity. It cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the blockchain and can be transferred by the owner, allowing NFTs to be sold and traded. NFTs can be created by anybody and require few or no coding skills to create. NFTs typically contain references to digital files such as artworks, photos, videos, and audio. Because NFTs are uniquely identifiable, they differ from cryptocurrencies, which are fungible.
The 2020 United States presidential election in Oklahoma was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Oklahoma voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Oklahoma has seven electoral votes in the Electoral College.
Nicholas Joseph Fuentes is an American far-right political commentator and live streamer who is known for his white supremacist, misogynistic, homophobic, antisemitic, and Islamophobic views. A former YouTuber, his channel was permanently terminated in February 2020 for violating YouTube's hate speech policy. Fuentes has promoted conspiracy theories against Jewish people, has denied the Holocaust, and advocates for the genocide of Jews. Fuentes identifies as a member of the incel movement, as a supporter of authoritarian government, and as a Catholic integralist and Christian nationalist.
fnnch is a pseudonymous American street artist based in San Francisco. He often utilizes stencils and spray paint. His subjects frequently feature nature, such as birds, and pop art imagery, such as his honey bear series.
West Bank Wall graffiti art is street art on the walled sections of the Israeli West Bank barrier, by a wide range of international and Palestinian artists. The wall is 8 to 10 metres tall, and is easily accessible to artists as it frequently divides urban areas. The graffiti is on the Palestinian side of the wall and primarily expresses anti-wall sentiments.
Corona-chan is a moe anthropomorphization of the coronavirus which became a popular meme on 4chan, Reddit and other websites during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
American rapper and fashion designer Ye, commonly known by his birth name Kanye West, has garnered mainstream attention for his views on numerous political and social issues. West unsuccessfully ran for President of the United States in 2020, focusing on his opposition to abortion. In November 2022, West announced that he is running again for the presidency in the 2024 election, however no progress has been made on this course of action. On December 1, 2022, West stated that he admired Adolf Hitler, denied the Holocaust, and identified as a Nazi.
