Rowan Newton was featured back in February 2011, and it seems that Newton has been busy the past 2 years. Rowan uses spray paint, acrylics, and ink to create his gritty pieces that brings him back to EK.

This year for SXSW Empty Kingdom partnered with the awesome HOPE Campaign to deliver an amazing all day art event in Austin Texas.  Empty Kingdom was most honored to bring Dave Young, Derek Gores, Hugh Leeman, and Joel Daniel Phillips down to Austin to participate and put their various talents to work to make this wall shine.  If you didn't manage to get down there, don't fret y'all!  We've got photos!  And maybe we'll see you next time, in your city... On behalf of all of us at Empty Kingdom, we are incredibly thankful to both the artists as well as everyone who supported this effort, whether financially or by promoting the event via the various methods of social media and by word of mouth.

The fourth and final artists that Empty Kingdom is proud to bring to SXSW ReCREATE:ATX will be Derek Gores.  The fantastic master of the collage will undoubtedly be putting something stunning and novel up on the walls in Austin Texas.  Derek understands that this is about community, encouraging anyone near the event to bring something for him to include, a bold offer from a man who knows what art is truly about.

The next of the fantastic four artists that will be participating in the ReCREATE:ATX event, which is only 1 week away, is none other than Hugh Leeman.  Discussing everything from personal maturation to the ignorance we have towards the richness of the life the person walking by you on the street, his interview is well worth a read.  

With his eyes set on the upcoming Empty Kingdom / HOPE Campaign event at SXSW, in Austin Texas, we have taken a little time to ask David Young, D Young V, about his work passions and his goals.  D Young doesn't shy away from the meat of the issues at hand, his discussion is relevant, intelligent and straight forward.  Read on:

Max Zorn is a street artist based in Amsterdam, who uses rolls of nondescript packing tape to create his sepia-toned portraits. He lends an unexpected delicacy to this blandness of material, rendered in lapping shades of gold.

Philip Bosmans is a graffiti artist/painter/illustrator currently based out of Belgium. Bosmans has a background in graphic design, but isn't scared to run with the best of them to blow up a wall or two or three. Bosmans also produces acrylic paintings that we present today.

[Photo by: Lauren Treece] The beginning is, in fact, finally here. After shifting through exactly 1470 posts for the entire 2012 calendar year, a dozen pots of coffee made, several holes punched in the drywall during heated deliberations, and several concussions suffered from office supplies hurled at each others' heads, we proudly present the third annual EMPTY KINGDOM TOP 100 Artists of 2012!

Nathan Ota made his first appearance on EK on 2010. He incorporates elements of graffiti and urban art into his amazing illustrations and sometimes complements his unique style with other talented collaborators such street art extraordinaire, Risky.

Spanish artist Alicia Martin has recently created a monumental installation for the 2012 Paper Biennial at the Meermanno Museum in The Netherlands. The public can view this sculpture pouring thousands of books onto the streets till the 25th of November.

Shelley Miller takes graffiti to a whole new level, taking to the streets not with spray cans of paint but an arsenal of sugar icing. She creates large, decorative murals with an almost colonial, victorian air - literally sugar-coating the crumbling urban walls from Brazil to Montreal.

Sainer, aka Przemek Blejzyk was featured on May 17th 2010. He makes his return on EK  along with Etam Cru, a collaborative project that combines the monstrous talents of polish of street artists Sainer and Bezt as well as other amazing occasional collaborators . The enormous pieces are a mind trip indeed.

Hirotoshi Itoh is a wonder with stone.  His sense of humor is nice and subdued but right on the button, and the more you look the more you smile.

Fabrizio Sarti AKA Sea, I admire your limitless dexterity. A man of many trades; including, painting, illustration, street art and the sole creator of SeaCreative-impressive.

Nikita Nomerz is a Russian artist that travels to various cities and transforms abandoned structures through graffiti installations.

Having only been in the game since 2008, Cryptik's street art has evolved into a full-blown crusade. He calls it the "Cryptik Movement". What began as an outlet to share his thoughts and beliefs, has become a public diary of his personal spiritual journey.

Beauty is in the eye of...Vermibus. A Spanish artist who is currently based out of Berlin, Germany, Vermibus "kidnapps" actual ads near bus stops, subway stations, and other public spaces, and uses gasoline, thinner, acetone, and what have you to transform them into his very own creations. Vermibus replaces the original ads with something more beautiful, reclaiming the public space one ad display at a time.

For the past few months, Tasha Lewis has been traveling around the US installing 400 cyanotype butterflies in public spaces...guerrilla style - the only style that EK loves. Each cyanotype butterfly is printed on cotton fabric and is attached to a small, yet powerful magnet to ensure that no harm or damage is done to any surface. "I hope that these ephemeral installations will turn into public performances and events as the swarm grows even bigger. My goal is to toe the line between subversive street art and lyrical apparition."

Ever since I saw  Koralie and husband Supakitch on EK on November of last year, I've been wanting to do a post about them individually, so here goes! Though their work blends incredibly in a fluke of genius brought by street art super powers, Koralie's work stands alone with pure individual style. Her signature "doll" illustrations appear throughout her work, she blends a variety of different patterns, textures and various cultural influences that make each piece an intricate evolution from the last.