Lowbrow art or Pop Surrealism

Today I learned the name of the type of art I love to look at and do: lowbrow art. I am just very glad b/c I've not known this term before. It's things like graffiti (which I'm not that interested in, but oh well) illustration, cartoons, fashion, etc, etc... things that "real" "American Artist" type artists frown upon as "not real art."

I guess artists in this movement just have an urge to create (and are very technically skilled) and just create whatever they want out of whatever materials... their creativity is not limited to a medium, or fame, or money, or anything else. I identify so much with this movement because I'm often attracted to different art forms such as illustration and digital art, fashion, pop videos... and during college my work was often called "illustration, not fine art" to my chagrin.

But now I know WHY! Hm, hm... it's pleasing sometimes to find a category for oneself. And now I feel like I know what I'm doing; I know what my style is... and don't have to feel guilty when my stuffy "real artist" conscience frowns upon me and whispers, "Don't do that. That's not REAL art. Real artists paint with oils." Yaaaaaay! Bye bye to you, annoying voice!

No wonder I find "American Artist" type magazines alarmingly dull... but can read Juxtapoz and High Fructose for hours and be inspired by every single page, even the ads! Here's a sampling of my all-time faves!

David Choe
Kyosuke Tchinai
Stella Im Hultberg
Audrey Kawasaki