10 Visual Artists Everyone Should Know Right Now

Artists have long dreamed up different worlds, but today's hottest visual creators want to show you something else: a different view of your own world. With bold aesthetics and a keen cultural awareness, the visual artists featured in Adweek's Creative 100 for 2019 often have as much to say as they do to show. Check out the 10 artists, photographers, animators and more included in this year's list: Dana Scruggs Photographer [kickout id="1" label="Dana Scruggs"] The evolution of Brooklyn-based photographer Dana Scruggs has truly been a sight to behold. From taking photos with a mere point-and-shoot for her Etsy shop to landing three major magazine covers within the span of a month—including photographing Diddy and his family for Essence magazine—Scruggs has elevated her personal brand in a way that many could only dream of. “This past year has been the most affirming of my life, not just as person, but also as artist,” Scruggs tells Adweek. “It took over six years of struggle and constantly feeling anonymous in this industry before I got to this point.” Throughout her upward journey in the industry, Scruggs has maintained a vision that centers on the versatile beauty of blackness without succumbing to the pressures that come with entering the commercial market. For Scruggs, that resoluteness has been the key to her success and has earned her credits along the vein of Town & Country, Rolling Stone, and New York Magazine. “I hope people learn that there doesn’t have to be a difference between personal work and commercial work. My commercial jobs are fun because I’m being hired for my vision and aesthetic. For me, there’s no separation. All of my work is personal.” —Shannon Miller Noelle Stevenson Cartoonist and animation producer [kickout id="2" label="Noelle Stevenson"] When DreamWorks reached out to Stevenson to pitch a new She-Ra adaptation, “It felt like one of those moments where you’re in the right place at the right time,” she tells Adweek. For someone whose previous work explored “subversion of classic fantasy and sci-fi tropes, especially as they relate to female characters,” it was a natural fit. Adapting such an iconic character was a daunting task she took seriously, but Stevenson also “didn’t want myself and my crew to feel constrained by that.” Instead, she wanted the show to evolve in a new direction, apparent in the show’s title—She-Ra and the Princesses of Power—reflecting its increased focus on She-Ra’s relationships to all the other characters.” [kickout id="16"] “This show is about friendship, but I also wanted to show that sometimes friendship can be hard, sometimes relationships can be messy and difficult and you can rise above that.” The show moves beyond stereotypical portrayals of women in animation, with a diverse array of character ethnicities, body shapes, sexual orientations and gender identities. That diversity is reflective of a diverse and collaborative cast and crew, including an all-female writers room that is a welcome change from experiences “being one of the only women in a room” full of male writers. “I was really excited to explore as many different ways of showing female characters as possible,” Stevenson said. “I think it’s really important to have certain shows where different points of view are centered in a way where they don’t often get to be and that creates new stories that we might not have necessarily seen before." —Erik Oster Jen Bartel Comic artist and illustrator [kickout id="3" label="Jen Bartel"] Artist and comics creator Jen Bartel’s career began with a love of creating fan art. As she paid homage to some of her favorite characters, she used that time to fine-tune her distinctive style and locate her voice as an artist. A large part of her journey has included centering marginalized women in her inclusive work, which has led to projects like Marvel Comics’ World of Wakanda. Now, she’s the co-creator of Blackbird, a neo-noir fantasy comic book written by Sam Humphries that is currently on its sixth issue. “Doing creator-owned storytelling is still quite rare in most industries, but especially within comics,” Bartel tells Adweek. "[As] a woman, to be visible within a very much male-dominated industry is probably the thing that has been the biggest accomplishment for me this past year." While Blackbird may be her crowning accomplishment to date, it is certainly not her only victory this year: Bartel recently partnered with Adidas to design a line of Marvel-themed sneakers (inspired by Captain Marvel and Thanos) exclusively for Foot Locker, just in time for the cinematic releases of Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. —Shannon Miller Nicholas "NickyChulo" Fulcher Art director, Atlantic Records [kickout id="4" label="Nicholas “NickyChulo” Fulcher"] With a crisp, black-and-white checkered outfit against a vibrant turquoise backdrop, mod-like shades, shocking yellow finger waves, and a determined lick of her lips, Cardi B.’s Invasion of Privacy album cover looks like modern-day pop art. It’s a look that is so emblematic of who she is as an artist—daring, fearless, self-assured—that it has the potential to transcend her own era. It takes a bold, thoughtful creative mind to understand their subject and fashion something that is fitting, eye-catching and enduring. Meet NickyChulo, the designer who has lent his talents to a number of Cardi B.’s now iconic album covers—including Invasion of Privacy—as well as artists Wiz Khalifa and Kodak Black. Inspired by the album art of Linkin Park, Lupe Fiasco, and Jay-Z, NickyChulo’s work reflects a polished DIY element that tends to draw the New-York based art director’s own attention in other projects. And while you would think the industry’s migration to digital would paint designers into a corner, it has only evolved his talent. “When working on an album or single, a handful of digital content must be built around said project,” he says. “You can't just have a static cover anymore if you're looking to stand out. It must be animated to promote on socials and catch attention. It's beautiful to stretch and mold concepts these days.” —Shannon Miller Raina Telgemeier Graphic novelist, Scholastic [kickout id="5" label="Raina Telgemeier"] Raina Telgemeier has been drawing comics since age 9 but didn’t know she wanted to make graphic novels until she hit her 20s. “I read Bone by Jeff Smith. It was all the elements I love in a long-form story. Shortly thereafter, I teamed up with Scholastic. I have been drawing comics my whole life. Most of my work was short form. I didn’t know if I could do it.” Telgemeier’s work adapting and illustrating four beloved Baby-Sitters Club books into graphic novels gave her the confidence to write the fiction graphic novels Drama and Ghosts and pen memoirs Smile and Sisters, based on real-life events from Telgemeier’s childhood. “When I wrote Smile, I thought telling my own story was odd, but people relate to it. It’s opened me up to a world of conversation. Parents can relate as much as kids can.” She recently published Share Your Smile, an interactive journal that helps kids organize and achieve their goals of writing and drawing comics; Guts, a follow-up memoir to Sisters that tackles anxiety, comes out in September. [kickout id="17"] “I dealt with it personally. I wondered if it was ok to share.” Telgemeier is currently doing publicity for Share Your Smile, and catching up on life. “I get together with friends, watch movies. I have a camping trip in a few months. I get a chance to read books. I like the memoir genre and graphic novels for younger readers. I just finished Kiss Number 8.” —Amy Corr Daniella Zalcman Founder, Women Photograph [kickout id="6" label="Daniella Zalcman"] Known for: Creating Women Photograph out of a “deep frustration of gender inequality in my industry. Eighty-five percent of newspaper photography above the fold is taken by men. It started as a hiring community, a list of women photographers. Now it’s over 900 women, transgender and non-binary individuals.” Recently launched We Women, a project to “elevate voices of other photographers.” Applicants can apply for cash grants, exhibitions and mentorship programs. Being self-aware at a young age: “I wanted to be a journalist since 11 or 12. I grew up in the D.C. area and left to go to NY as quickly as possible.” On her passion for education: Zalcman likes to teach and be inside a classroom as much as she can. “There are many political and social infrastructures on the planet. I encourage the audience to see the infrastructure.” —Amy Corr Ivan Cash Digital artist and filmmaker [kickout id="7" label="Ivan Kash"] Ivan Cash may work on behalf of tech companies like Facebook and Airbnb, often in digital media, but the idea behind much of his output celebrates more analog human connections. The San Francisco-based interactive artist and filmmaker said he's always been drawn to projects that cut through the atomized, screen-addicted sub-reality of modern life. That theme is best exemplified in art projects like "Snail Mail My Email," in which he and 2,000 volunteers transcribed 30,000 emails into handwritten letters and mailed them for free, and "Selfless Portraits," which invited people to create physical portraits of a random stranger's Facebook profile picture and received more than 50,000 submissions. The theme can also be seen in the "IRL Glasses" he co-created to block users from seeing screens: [kickout id="11"] "I find that tensions or problems, whether they're personal or societal, can be really valuable in terms of creative ideation," Cash says. That notion might sound disconcerting for conflict-averse marketers, but Cash Studios has managed to cultivate a client list that spans blue-chip brands like Nike, Google and L'Oreal while remaining selective about working with companies that align with Cash's values. The studio's branded output has included a new photo series that seeks to connect generations of the LGBT community around the Stonewall Uprising for Airbnb and a video for encryption company Silent Circle that asked random people on the street to recite aloud seldom-read app terms and conditions, then filmed their reactions. —Patrick Kulp Titus Kaphar Painter [kickout id="8" label="Titus Kaphar"] When Titus Kaphar decided to move back to New Haven around a decade ago to build a life for his family outside the cramped chaos of New York, friends told him the distance from the art world's power center would cripple his career. Instead, the award-winning painter built his own vibrant art scene in the Connecticut college town centered on an incubator for underserved young artists called NXTHAVEN. “It is a dream that I've been working towards for over five years now, and it's finally been realized,” he said. [kickout id="12"] The gallery space and mentorship program is just one example of how Kaphar has sought to break free from the conventions of the art establishment. Much of his work also aims to subvert and recontextualize art history and classical art to shine a light on otherwise unseen or unnoticed African American subjects and the legacy of racism underlying their omission. Some of his most notable pieces have included a 2014 oil painting commissioned by Time Magazine in response to police violence protests in Ferguson, Mo., and, more recently, a partnership called "Redaction" with poet Reginald Dwayne Betts that turns legal documents into poems superimposed on portraits of incarcerated people. —Patrick Kulp Billy Bogiatzoglou, a.k.a. Billelis Artist and designer [kickout id="9" label="Billelis"] Billelis uses the latest technology to create complex 3D images for clients like Nike, Netflix and Lionsgate. He describes his unique style as “dark, yet elegant romantic fusion.” Heavy on both gothic themes and classic sculptures, his designs pop off the page and draw towards the center while taking detours through the details. His personal artwork brings you a myriad of ways to see the human skull, and he delivers that same style to his clients. “I feel like I am at this stage of my career mainly because of the work I do for myself,” Billelis said. “I am personally connected and invested in what I do every day and as a result of that process, my clients get the same love as my personal work.” His favorite project is the poster work he did for John Wick 3: Parabellum, the recently released action movie starring Keanu Reeves. “It was an honor to be asked to work on it and provide my vision,” he said. “The feedback was minimum which helped us create something unique as I felt personally connected to the brief.” —Mitch Reames Manshen Lo Animator and illustrator [kickout id="10" label="Manshen Lo"] With impeccably clean lines and oddly soothing color palettes, Lo has created an illustration style that feels simultaneously hand-drawn and natively digital. That's because it is, with her lines being drawn with an ink brush and then the colors added later through software. [kickout id="15"] The resulting look has become increasingly popular in recent years, with Lo being commissioned to create a promotional video for Berkeley's GLAS Animation Festival 2019. She's also worked with the famed design agency Pentagram and created illustrations for Bloomberg Businessweek, The New Yorker, The New York Times and more. [kickout id="14"] “My approach to drawing and painting has its roots in East Asia, influenced by Chinese comic masters such as Youzhi He but also Belgian and Japanese animated films,” the London-based artist tells U.K. design site ItsNiceThat. “It also takes inspiration from sequential art, cinematography and the Ligne Claire style.” —David Griner View the full Creative 100 gallery for 2019 to discover more about this year’s honorees.

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10 Visual Artists Everyone Should Know Right Now

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Dana Scruggs

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