Dave Kinsey

Dave Kinsey (born 1971, Pittsburgh, PA) is an American contemporary artist and designer who lives and works in Los Angeles and Three Rivers, California.^[1] He's known for his emotionally charged paintings and murals,^[2] as well as high-visibility logos and advertising campaigns, including the ubiquitous DC Shoes logo,^[3] The Black-Eyed Peas Elephunk album icon, N.E.R.D. "brain", Epitaph Records identity^[4] and, most recently, his work with the international Absolut Blank campaign.^[5] In October, 2011, he joined the esteemed Kenwood Vineyards Artist Series as their 33rd annual artist.^[6] The series has included Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Sam Francis and Alexander Calder among others.^[7] On the design side, Kinsey currently owns and runs the design studio BLK/MRKT with partner Jana DesForges. He was a founding partner in 1997 with Shepard Fairey and Phillip DeWolff,^[8] becoming sole owner in 2003.^[9] The studio became well known for its guerilla marketing tactics, and the development of high-impact marketing campaigns.^[10] An offshoot of the design studio, BLK/MRKT Gallery (later Kinsey/DesForges, currently closed) was introduced in Los Angeles in 2001, moving in 2004 to what has become known as the Culver City Art District.^[11] Sister venture BLK/MRKT Editions produces fine art prints.

Early career

In 1994, after receiving his arts education at the Art Institute of Atlanta (1991–1993, illustration/design) and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh (1989–1990, fine art/design), Kinsey moved to California to work for the popular brands DC Shoes, Droors, Dub and Blunt snowboard magazine.^[12] Soon after he formed the short-lived design studio First Bureau of Imaging (FBI) with pro-skateboarder and artist Andy Howell, Shepard Fairey and Phillip DeWolff. Unable to resolve conflicts in the partnership within the first 6 months,^[13] Kinsey left FBI to form BLK/MRKT with Fairey and DeWolff following shortly thereafter. They liked the name BLK/MRKT according to Shepard Fairey because "of the bad-assed underground connotation of it, and also because the "Black Market" was the arch-enemy of the FBI."^[14]

Lectures and Presentations

• University of Florida, Gainesville, FL – March, Ligature design conference, 2001
• Alte Chemie, Munich, Germany – February, Lecture & artist workshop, 2003
• AIGA, Los Angeles, CA – October, Lecture and Studio visit, 2004
• UCLA Design class, Los Angeles, CA – June, Lecture and studio visit, 2005
• Art Center, Pasadena, CA – September, Lecture and studio visit, 2005
• Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA – December, Lecture and studio visit, 2005
• Semi-Permanent, Sydney, Australia – March, Design conference lecture, 2007

Editorial Features

• Warp, Tokyo, Japan, Volume 6, Issue 84, 2003
• Word, Zurich, Switzerland, Fall 2003 Issue 15, 2003
• Straight No Chaser, London, England, Issue 27, 2003
• The Art of Rebellion, Munich, Germany, published by Ginko Press Inc., 2003
• Black Book, New York, NY, Issue 29, 2003
• Art Prostitute, Dallas, TX, Issue 3, 2003
• 'Defrag, Milan, Italy, Spring Issue, 2004
• Streetwear Today, Berlin, Germany, Spring Issue, 2004
• iNVOX, Moscow, Russia, Issue 02, 2004
• Cap & Design, Stockholm, Sweden, Issue No.8, 2004
• Juxtapoz, San Francisco, CA, March, Issue 52, 2005
• Search magazine, Lisbon, Portugal, Summer, 2005
• The New York Times, Travel section, New York, NY, July 10th, 2005
• Territory magazine, Singapore, Malaysia, Issue 04, 2005
• DPI magazine, Hong Kong, China, Volume 77, 2005
• Hidden Track, Robert Klanten, Die Gestalten Verlag, 2005
• The Washington Post, Washington DC, Monday, December 26th, 2005
• The Times Arts section, London, England, April 30th, 2006
• L.A. Art: Then and Now ArtKrush.com, New York, NY, June, 2006
• Quick, "Pimping The Arts", Dallas, TX, Friday June 2, 2006
• BLK/MRKT ONE, Los Angeles, CA, published by BMG and Die Gestalten Verlag, 2006
• Art Forum, New York, January, XLV, No. 5, 2007
• Empty Mag, Sydney, Australia, Issue 09, 2007
• Logo Design Vol.1, Ed. Julius Wiedemann, published by Taschen, London, 2007
• Color Magazine, Vancouver, Canada, Volume 5, Issue 5, 2007
• BLK/MRKT TWO, Los Angeles, CA, published by BMG and Die Gestalten Verlag, 2007
• LA Weekly, Los Angeles, CA, Art Pick, Nov 15th issue, 2007
• Bl!ss Magazine, Newport Beach, CA, Issue 1.08, 2008
• Juxtapoz, San Francisco, CA, Feb issue no. 85, 2008
• Sure, Why Not, exhibition catalogue, published by BLK/MRKT Editions, Los Angeles, 2008
• Chronicle Live, Newcastle, England, June 29, 2008
• Moose, Rotterdam, Netherlands, Issue No. 004, 2009
• The Upset, Berlin, Germany, published by Die Gestalten Verlag, 2009
• Logo Design Vol.2, Ed. Julius Wiedemann, published by Taschen, London, 2009
• Hi-Fructose Magazine, San Francisco, CA, Volume 13, 2009
• The Citrus Report, Issue 21, 2009
• Format magazine, Issue 67, 2009
• ROJO Magazine, Barcelona, Spain, ®KYOI Breach Dynamics issue, 2009
• From Style Writing to Art, A Street Art Anthology, published by Magda Danysz, 2009
• Digital Temple, Paris, France, Issue 10 "The X Issue", 2010
• Beyond The Street: The 100 Leading Figures in Urban Art published by Gestalten, Berlin, 2010
• Theme, New York, Issue 23, 2010
• The Reference Council, Hamburg, Nov. 10th, 2010
• Art of Rebellion III, published by Publikat, 2010
• VNA, London, Issue 12, 2010

References

External links

• kinseyvisual.com: Official website