BUA is one of the best selling print artists that has ever lived, with over 26 million prints sold worldwide.
BUA grew up on the Upper West Side of New York City during the nascent moments of Hip Hop and was fascinated by the raw, visceral street life of the city.
BUA attended Manhattan's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Performing Arts and complemented his education on the streets by writing graffiti and performing worldwide with breakdancing crews. He went on to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he earned a B.F.A in Illustration and taught figure drawing at the University of Southern California for ten years.
BUA's distinctive figurative style combines his classical training with his background in graffiti and breakdancing. The subjects of his paintings range from recognizable figures, such as Snoop Dogg, Tu Pac, and a Tribe Called Quest to anonymous people pulled from his memories, including his infamous DJ for which he has become best known. Each of BUA's subjects is ennobled within the urban landscape he paints and is often rendered with elongated limbs or hands, emphasizing the rhythm of the scene.
BUA exhibits worldwide with a fan base that ranges from former presidents, actors, musicians, professional athletes, and dancers, to street kids and art connoisseurs.
BUA will be signing a print along with his book The Beat of Urban Art, in which he lays out his unique vision, melding urban rhythms, graffiti, and classical art training. This visually arresting book is about his life, his work, and the birth of Hip-Hop. As we follow BUA through his turbulent youth, navigating the streets and underground worlds of the urban jungle, we recognize the powerful evolution of BUA's distinct style—"Distorted Urban Realism.”
