Brandon Breaux is a multi-disciplinary artist from the South Side of Chicago whose work includes oil-on-canvas and digital art. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Brandon Breaux is a multi-disciplinary artist from the South Side of Chicago whose work includes oil-on-canvas and digital art. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Breaux grew up in the Chatham and Grand Crossing neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. Breaux graduated from DePaul University in 2006. [6]
Breaux's work focuses on representation of his culture on the South Side of Chicago and his advocacy for mental health, [7] especially in the Black community. [8]
Breaux created the cover art to the 2012 Chance the Rapper debut mixtape 10 DAY . Breaux also created the cover art for the Acid Rap and Coloring Book mixtapes, and Chance's 2018 singles "Wala Cam", "65th and Ingleside" and "Work Out". [9]
Breaux shot the original photo and created the cover art for Acid Rap. [10] The picture happened by chance, according to Breaux: "I had made these tie-dye tank tops before we went to SXSW and I gave them to Chance… In the back of my mind I'm like I hope you wear this." [11]
The cover artwork Breaux created for Coloring Book depicted Chance holding his baby daughter, capturing his facial expression but with the baby outside the frame of the image. [12]
Following the publication of the cover art for Chance the Rapper, artists including Drake, Kehlani, [13] Miguel, and Troye Sivan have released album cover art showing Breaux's influence. [4]
His debut U.S. solo exhibition, BIG WORDS, included painting, print, and fashion design, and was curated by Anna Cerniglia and Alison Cuddy for Blanc Gallery. [14] [15] [16] In a review for Dazed, Vanessa Murrell noted the exhibition's use of typography and figures to stimulate the viewer's right and left brain functions. [17]
Ebony magazine published Breaux's commissioned portrait of fashion icon André Leon Talley on its cover.
Civil Rights Movement pioneer Congressman John Lewis commissioned a portrait by Breaux for the cover of his final published work, Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation. [15]
In 2020, Breaux collaborated with the Museum of Contemporary Art on a capsule collection. [18]
In 2022, Breaux was selected in a cohort of 14 master artists and designers to be part of Dorchester Industries Experimental Design Lab, a partnership of the Prada Group, Theaster Gates Studio, Dorchester Industries, and Rebuild Foundation. [19]
In 2022 the Kennedy Center selected Breaux for its "Office Hours" curated developmental artist residency program. [20]
Ebony magazine named Breaux in its 2022 EBONY Power 100 list of Black leaders. [21] [22]
Raf Jan Simons is a Belgian fashion designer. Beginning in furniture design, Simons launched his own menswear label in 1995. He was creative director at Jil Sander (2005–2012), Christian Dior (2012–2015), and Calvin Klein (2016–2018). As of 1 April 2020, he is the co-creative director of Prada, in partnership with Miuccia Prada.
Acid Rap is the second mixtape by American rapper Chance the Rapper. It was released on April 30, 2013, as a free digital download. In July 2013, the mixtape debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, due to bootleg downloads on iTunes and Amazon not affiliated with the artist. The mixtape has been certified "diamond" on mixtape site Datpiff, for garnering over 1,000,000 downloads. It was rereleased on streaming services on June 21, 2019, alongside his 2012 mixtape 10 Day. A 10th anniversary Complete Edition was later released, including the full version of "Juice", which previously wasn't available for streaming due to sampling issues.
Theaster Gates is an American social practice installation artist and a professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he still lives and works.
Chancelor Johnathan Bennett, known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape 10 Day in 2012. He gained mainstream recognition in 2013 following the release of his second mixtape, Acid Rap. His third mixtape, Coloring Book (2016), was released to further critical acclaim and commercial success as it peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200. The mixtape also earned a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, while a song off the album, "No Problem", won Best Rap Performance; it became the first streaming-only album to win a Grammy Award. Bennett himself was also awarded Best New Artist the same night. His debut studio album, The Big Day, was released in 2019 to continued commercial success and moderate critical reception.
Victor Kwesi Mensah, known professionally as Vic Mensa, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, he was a member of the regional hip hop groups Kids These Days and Savemoney prior to releasing his debut solo mixtape, Innanetape (2013). As a solo artist, Mensa has been signed to Virgin EMI Records, Def Jam Recordings, Capitol Records, and Roc Nation.
Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music and a subgenre of hauntology, a visual art style, and an Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s, and became well-known in 2015. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, 1970s elevator music, R&B, and lounge music from the 1980s and 1990s. The surrounding subculture is sometimes associated with an ambiguous or satirical take on consumer capitalism and pop culture, and tends to be characterized by a nostalgic or surrealist engagement with the popular entertainment, technology and advertising of previous decades. Visually, it incorporates early Internet imagery, late 1990s web design, glitch art, anime, stylized Greek sculptures, 3D-rendered objects, and cyberpunk tropes in its cover artwork and music videos.
Herbert Randall Wright III, better known by his stage name G Herbo, is an American rapper. Wright signed to the Chicago-based record label Machine Entertainment Group in 2011 at the age of 16. Through the label, he released his debut mixtape Welcome to Fazoland (2014), followed by Pistol P Project (2014), Ballin Like I'm Kobe (2015), and Strictly 4 My Fans (2016). His debut studio album, Humble Beast (2017) was released through Cinematic Music Group and received critical acclaim. His collaborative album with record producer Southside, Swervo (2018) served his first major label release through Epic Records; its sequel, Still Swervin (2019) served as Wright's second album. His third album, PTSD (2020) peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200 upon release, likewise with his fourth and fifth albums, 25 (2021) and Survivor's Remorse (2022); 25 marked his first project with Republic Records.
10 Day is the debut mixtape by American rapper Chance the Rapper. It was released independently on April 3, 2012 as a free digital download. The mixtape was downloaded over 400,000 times on mixtape site DatPiff, and over 235,000 times on MixtapeMonkey. 10 Day was released on commercial streaming platforms in June 2019, followed by a vinyl release.
Fatimah Nyeema Warner, known professionally as Noname, is an American rapper, poet, and record producer. Since 2019, she has run the Noname Book Club, which focuses on radical texts by authors of color. She is also one third of the musical supergroup Ghetto Sage with the rappers Smino and Saba.
Tahj Malik Chandler, better known by his stage name Saba, is an American rapper and record producer. He grew up in the Austin neighborhood of the West Side of Chicago. He is a co-founder of the musical collective Pivot Gang with his brother Jerrel Chandler, their late cousin Walter Long Jr, their high school friend Logan Yutters, Jevunte Wheeler (squeakPivot), and Jimmy. He is also one third of the supergroup Ghetto Sage, with Smino and Noname.
"Juice" is a song by American rapper Chance the Rapper, released on January 31, 2013 as the lead single from his second mixtape Acid Rap (2013). It was written by Chance and Nate Fox, who also produced the song.
Coloring Book is the third mixtape by American rapper Chance the Rapper. It was produced by his group The Social Experiment, Lido, and Kaytranada, among others. For the mixtape, Chance also collaborated with musicians such as Kanye West, Young Thug, Francis and the Lights, Justin Bieber, 2 Chainz, Kirk Franklin, and the Chicago Children's Choir.
"Angels" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Chance the Rapper. The song was released on October 27, 2015, as the lead single from his third solo mixtape, Coloring Book (2016). The track, produced by Lido and The Social Experiment, features vocals by fellow Chicago rapper Saba.
Virgil Abloh was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. He began his own line of luxury streetwear clothing, Pyrex Vision, in 2012, and became the chief executive officer of the Milan-based label Off-White, a fashion house he founded in 2013. Abloh was also the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection beginning in 2018, and was given increased creative responsibilities across the LVMH brand in early 2021.
Cameron Osteen, better known by his stage name Cam O'bi, is an American record producer, singer-songwriter and audio engineer. He has produced for Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, Mick Jenkins, Noname, J. Cole, Bas, Saba, and Isaiah Rashad. His upcoming debut album is titled Grown Ass Kid.
The Big Day is the debut studio album and most recent release by American rapper Chance the Rapper, released on July 26, 2019. The album follows several mixtapes by the rapper including the reissue of his collaborative Merry Christmas Lil' Mama in 2017, and was his first solo project since Coloring Book in 2016. The album was heavily influenced by Chance's marriage to his then wife. The album was lauded by most critics, but certain aspects of the work found limited commercial success. The album received backlash from fans on social media and other Internet communities citing inconsistencies of quality throughout the work. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, Chance's highest-charting entry to date.
Rebuild Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming buildings and neighborhoods in South Side Chicago, sustaining cultural development as well as celebrating art. The Rebuild Foundation was founded in 2009 by Theaster Gates, a social practice installation artist. The Foundation is currently composed of seven projects.
Eliza Myrie is a visual artist who lives and works in Chicago, IL. Myrie works in a variety of media including sculpture, participatory installation art, public art, and printmaking.
Carrington Jaylen Andrew Wilson, known professionally as Tony Shhnow, is an American rapper and songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. He is recognized as a pioneer of the plugg subgenre of trap music and as a veteran of the hip hop underground scene.
Maya Bird-Murphy, is an American architect, and educator. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Mobile Makers Chicago, a nonprofit that focuses on making design accessible to underrepresented communities. She has received awards and recognition from both AIA and AIGA.
