Tysen Knight – Animation Imagination

Oscar Shepherd
Created by Oscar Shepherd (User Generated Content*)User Generated Content is not posted by anyone affiliated with, or on behalf of, Playbuzz.com.
On Sep 24, 2018
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Tysen Knight – Animation Imagination

Tysen Knight- a popular street artist - based in California, US, is known for his popular animations and pop art both on the street and in fine art galleries. He also specializes in twisting children’s animated cartoon characters. An example of this is Hello Kitty, the Japanese cartoon kitten that is loved by both children and adults to this day:

Knight merges urban, pop art and street influences when creating these works.
This piece plays on the idea of the innocence of the original character. Not only is she wearing something entirely different, but is a completely different color. This gives a surreal sense to what everyone knows about Hello Kitty and takes away the innocence.
The fact that she is wearing a rose eye patch, and has a square black nose, makes her seem a dark character, nothing like the cute white kitten we know and love; there is a subtle lustfulness about her.

Painting those who inspired him:

Andy Warhol was a great influence on Tysen. Being a pop artist himself, he really takes inspiration from the great Warhol. Andy Warhol was the leading figure in the original development of ‘Pop Art’, who was a successful magazine illustrator in the 1960’s.

Tysen created the illustration on the right, of Warhol, based around the well-known painting of his of ‘Campbells Tomato Soup’, Tysen’s painting is Andy wearing a pokemon card with ‘Tomato soup’ written on it – implying that this piece of artwork is Warhol’s ‘power’.
Keith Haring was also an American pop artist who’s street art flooded the streets of New York City in the 1980’s. Between 1980 and 1989, Haring achieved international recognition and participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions, which were also based in New York at the time.
In April 1986, Haring opened the Pop Shop, a retail store in Soho selling pop art-related merchandise and clothing, allowing him to express his pop art style much further in the fashion business. 

Tysen created this work of Haring, as a tribute to the amazing works he produced over his time. The chains around his neck signify the stickmen animations that Haring created, still used today in the media.

Television and Media:

Tysen certainly doesn’t shy away from referencing the entertainment business in his pieces. In fact, he takes an interest in theatre himself, starring in "Epic Movie" and "Nora's Hair Salon 2: A Cut Above." If you're driving through the streets of Los Angeles, California, you might see Tysen on a billboard for the "Meth PSA Drug Awareness Campaign."
However, within his art, he references television and entertainment multiple times. Especially his piece, ‘Mr. Burns – money showers’, which is a reference to the character Mr. Burns from the well-loved sitcom ‘The Simpsons’.

Tysen is an asset to the modern day world of animation and pop culture – we have had the same old art with older artists, but we’re ready for Knight to take the streets in his stride.

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