Sam Flores
San Francisco, USA

Fifteen years after arriving on the West Coast from New Mexico, Sam Flores, an art school evacuee and self-taught illustrator, has established his place in the modern art movement as a master of fine art and product design. His contemporaries include Shepard Fairey (OBEY), Mike Giant, Jeremy Fish and David Choe; whose collective bodies of work have forged a pathway for a new accessible movement within the popular art world. Sam Flores' artistic quality is unpretentious and provocative and demands consideration without categorization.

In keeping with the signature styling of his graffiti art background, Flores' current fine art work carries a voice and vision that is instantly identifiable. The exotic characters and natural landscapes he is known for are at once lush and meticulous. Flores' signature female Fatima figures are often draped in flowing gowns with oversize welcoming hands gracefully placed upon their laps. Childlike characters adorned in animal masks and intricate, flowing floral bouquets are a nod to the work of his greatest influences: American painters Michel Parkes & Maurice Sendak, creator of the classic children's storybook: "Where the Wild Things Are." Other influences include 19th Century Art Nouveau icon, Alphonse Mucha & American poster artist Derek Hess.