Dave Kinsey is an American contemporary artist and designer who lives and works in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 and Three Rivers, California

Three Rivers, California

Three Rivers is a census-designated place in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 2,182 at the 2010 census, down from 2,248 at the 2000 census....

. He's known for his emotionally charged paintings and murals, as well as high-visibility logos and advertising campaigns, including the ubiquitous DC Shoes

DC Shoes

DC Shoes is an American company that specializes in footwear for extreme sports, skateboarding, snowboarding as well as snowboards, shirts, jeans, hats, and jackets.The company was founded in 1993 by Ken Block and Damon Way, and is based in Vista, California...

 logo, The Black-Eyed Peas Elephunk

Elephunk

-Commercial response:In the United States, Elephunk reached number 14 on the Billboard Top 200 and is their first album to chart in the top 15. It gained even more commercial success in the UK Album Charts where it reached number 3. It has sold over 1.6 million copies in the UK and...

 album icon, N.E.R.D. "brain", Epitaph Records

Epitaph Records

Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...

 identity and, most recently, his work with the international Absolut Blank campaign. He was a founding partner of the design studio BLK/MRKT in 1997, along with Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey

Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His...

 and Phillip DeWolff, becoming sole owner in 2003. He currently owns and runs the company with partner Jana DesForges. The studio became well known for its guerilla marketing tactics, and the development of high-impact marketing campaigns. In 2001, a fine art space, BLK/MRKT Gallery (later Kinsey/DesForges) was added to the venture in the Mid-Wilshire district of Los Angeles, moving in 2004 to what has become known since as the Culver City Art District.

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. 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, 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."

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

External links

• kinseyvisual.com: Official website