Tysen Knight – Pop Urban Artist

Tysen Knight is Pop Urban Artist. He is most popularly known for his street art based on Buddha’s teachings and pop art sense. Growing up in the peak of the Street Art Movement, Knight was inspired by the works of famous street artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. His art style also reflects the styles of Fine Artist Pablo Picasso and Pop Artist Andy Warhol.

Born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Knight grew up in New Jersey, where he finished high school. As a teenager, he communicated his artwork through graffiti on walls and vacant buildings. He obtained his barbers’ license and began working with some of the region’s top athletes. He moved to California to pursue his passion in the arts and currently resides in the Palm Springs, California.

Knight’s documentary, The Art Of Hustle: Street Art Documentary, was the success that motivated him to move from being a street artist to a regular gallery contributor. The documentary, which Knight directed, produced, wrote, and starred in, won the ”Best Feature Film” Award 2018 at the Oregon Documentary Film Festival.  While working sixty hours a week at a barbershop, he worked on the documentary on Sundays and Mondays, and continued filming the nine straight months. He directed the documentary to deliver the inspirational story about all the endeavors and dedication required to achieve goals and dreams and shed a positive light on street art and graffiti.

Knight was responsible for a project, “Street Bench Art Pilot” conceived by the Palm Springs Public Arts Commission, the City Council Downtown Subcommittee, and Main Street Palm Springs, which involved decorating the benches throughout downtown Palm Springs. He created a series of benches with the theme, “Urban Desert Palms and Icons” on Palm Canyon Drive between Arenas Road and Museum Way. The icons included Garland, Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Frida Kahlo, and Lucille Ball.

Knight launched his latest collection of paintings and drawings on October 23, 2019, at www.RobertJamesGallery.com. The works are part of his new Masterpiece Mash-Up Series where he re-imagines paintings from artists such as Pablo Picasso, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Grant Wood. The collection debuted in NYC (Time Square) in the last quarter of 2019.

Knight has worked with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity to build homes for the less fortunate. He has also been involved in activities like preparing meals alongside Midnight Mission for the homeless and mentoring young ‘troubled’ kids to pursue arts at no cost.  Knight partnered with The Palm Springs Unified School District and the BAM (Boys Art Mentorship) program in California and utilized his brand of street art to inspire and mentor at-risk youth. During this mentorship program, he engaged students with an interactive program and taught them how to express themselves artistically, which has in return seen the drop-out rate of men of color in these programs reduced.

In addition to winning “Best Feature Film” for The Art Of Hustle: Street Art Documentary at the Oregon Documentary Film Festival in 2018, he also won the ”Best Director” Award 2019 at the Marina Del Rey Film Festival for his second film The Art Of Hustle: Homeless Street Artist Documentary, and won the artist “Spotlight” award at Red Dot Miami (Art Basel Weekend).

Visit www.tysenknight.com for more information and follow Tysen on facebook, twitter and Instagram @TysenKnight.