Artist Decoded By Yoshino

A Southern California native, Emilio Villalba received his BFA from the Art Institute of California in 2006, and his MFA in Painting from the Academy of Art University in 2011.  He currently lives in San Francisco where he teaches at the Art Institute of California and Cogswell College. "My portraits are inspired by master works, as well as the contemporary human condition.  They explore the dissonance created when the familiar is fractured and distorted by outside influence." - Emilio Villalba www.artistdecoded.com www.instagram.com/artistdecoded www.twitter.com/yoshinostudios

BRTHR is a director duo, known for their euphoric, speed ramped music videos and creative content.  Tokyo born Alex Lee, and New York native Kyle Wightman became quick friends while attending The School of Visual Arts in NYC, and went on to launch BRTHR in the fall of 2012. Both Alex and Kyle are well versed in the realms of editing, photography and their bold graphic style utilizes VFX frequently. www.artistdecoded.com www.instagram.com/artistdecoded www.twitter.com/yoshinostudios

"I was born in cozy Madison, WI, but ever since that day I have not set foot on Wisconsin again. In all honesty, I haven’t really been actively avoiding this generous land of cheese and beer. Given the very attractive winters that this icebox of a state has to offer, I was happy that my parents decided to return to Colombia before my first birthday. I spent my first 17 years in Bogotá and after finishing High School I went to New York to study Illustration in SVA. After graduating I worked at Evergreene Painting Studios, a mural painting studio, and at The Studio, an illustration studio where I did animatics, storyboards, print jobs, together with some illustration jobs (paperbacks, jackets, etc). After two years of constant and diligently supervised drawing, I decided to go back home to Colombia and be free to paint full time. What was a hard decision at first, turned into the best career move. I have been able to paint what I love, and be surrounded by friends and family. Today, I am happily married and liv

"Love you all!  I had a few thoughts for the end of the year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!" - Yoshino www.artistdecoded.com www.instagram.com/artistdecoded www.twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Stacy Kranitz's work explores history, representation and otherness within the documentary tradition. She uses both moving and still images to consider social constructs while commenting on this tradition and challenging its boundaries. Stacy was born in Kentucky. She received her BFA from New York University and her MFA from the University of California, Irvine. Her work has been featured in publications including Adbusters, Elle, Granta, Mother Jones, New York Times Magazine, Oxford American, Rolling Stone, Vice, and Wired. She is represented by Little Big Man Gallery in Los Angeles. www.artistdecoded.com www.instagram.com/artistdecoded www.twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Alex Kanevsky was born in Russia in 1963. He studied mathematics at Vilnius University in Lithuania before coming to the United States. After his arrival to Philadelphia in 1983 he worked as Russian translator, illustrator at the Psychiatric Nursing Magazine and drew pictures for the telephone book advertisements. After attending PAFA (1989-93) and winning a Pew Fellowship (1997) he devoted himself to painting full time. Alex Kanevsky lives and works in Philadelphia. He has exhibited his work in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, UK and Ireland. His work is represented by Hollis Taggart Gallery in NY and Dolby Chadwick Gallery in San Francisco. He teaches a painting seminar at PAFA. www.artistdecoded.com www.instagram.com/artistdecoded www.twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Brittany Markert received her B.S. in Mathematics from Santa Clara University in 2010.  In 2012 she enrolled in a printing workshop at International Center of Photography and has since been self-taught in traditional darkroom printing. In-Rooms, her current photography project, began in the winter of 2011.  Since 2014 it has taken form as an ongoing narrative documenting a surreal adaptation of her most vibrant thoughts, memories and dreams. Brittany resides in Brooklyn, NY. www.artistdecoded.com www.instagram.com/artistdecoded www.twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Nathaniel's paintings are like little ghost stories drawn from a childhood in Appalachia under the strict upbringing of an Apostolic Pentecostal family. His images of people compressed into claustrophobic scenes are anxious and oppressive, with tones of violence just under the surface. Layers of muted colors are scraped and agitated across the surface of otherwise photorealistic paintings, creating anxiety and mystery in the work. Together, Nathaniel's imagery and process create a tense space that is oppressive and claustrophobic.  www.artistdecoded.com www.instagram.com/artistdecoded www.twitter.com/yoshinostudios

"Almost all of my pictures are based in nostalgia, nature, hazy memories and childhood adventures.  I live in LA with my winsome wife Jess, our son Golden (an aspiring pro waffle eater), and our brilliant toy poodle Bela." - Graham Dunn Selected Client List:  Elle China, Free People, Heroine Magazine, Mirage Magazine, Old Navy, Stance Socks, Vice Magazine www.artistdecoded.com www.instagram.com/artistdecoded www.twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Justin Tyler Close born in Ontario, Canada in 1984 is the founder, creative director and editor-in-chief of The Lab Magazine. He started his career studying film theory and graduated with honors from Vancouver Film School.  His most recent feature film "In Their Skin" premiered at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival and was distributed by IFC Films. Soon after Justin turned to photography and has captured some of the world's most influential artists and entertainers including Marina Abramovic, Bryan Cranston, Lykke Li, Lenny Kravitz, Nas and Carly Rae Jepsen. Justin is also an artist specializing in photography and has exhibited all over the world in galleries and group shows.  He has also curated his own shows with the most recent one "Disconnection" which was a group show at Wilding Cran Gallery in Downtown LA. Justin's recent commercial project documenting a NASA astronomer for Saucony running shoes was nominated for a Young Directors Award at Cannes Lions Festival in 2015.   Justin is currently living and work

Hueman grew up drawing and painting in Northern California, and received her degree in Design | Media Arts from UCLA in 2008.  Whether she is painting delicate visions on canvas, or crushing massive walls with a spray can, she often draws on the human condition to create freestyle mash-ups of the abstract and figurative, and the beautiful and grotesque.  She is interested in creating ethereal motion and dimension on otherwise flat, two-dimensional surfaces. Hueman's work can be seen on walls and in galleries worldwide.  Her art has caught the attention of media outlets and publications such as CNN, the History Channel, Complex, Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose. www.artistdecoded.com www.instagram.com/artistdecoded www.twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Luke Gilford is a photographer and filmmaker from Santa Cruz, CA and currently based in Venice Beach.  Luke graduated from UCLA in 2008 and since then, his photography and films have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world - including MoMA in New York City and FOAM in Amsterdam. It was a 4 year long photography project documenting his friend's gender transition that inspired Luke to start telling stories with films.  Luke's first film project was directing David Lynch for a dreamlike short for Dom Perignon.  Soon after, Luke directed The Future of Flesh, a short featuring Prada's Spring 2014 Spring collection, which included Jane Fonda in its voice over.  The project received critical acclaim and led Luke to develop his ideas further, writing and directing his first narrative film, Connected, starring Pamela Anderson and Dree Hemingway (and again featuring Jane Fonda).   Luke's work has been published in The New York Times, Dazed & Confused, V Magazine, and GQ Style.  www.artistdecoded.co

Justin Hopkins (b. 1986) grew up in the small town of Mukilteo, Washington.  Immersed in the arts early on, Justin began drawing at age six; garnering corporate advertising assignments by the age of fourteen. After graduating from high school his talent caught the eye of legendary illustrator Charles White III, who hired Justin to work for his Architectural design company Olio Inc. In the years since Olio Justin has worked as an illustrator, sound designer and composer releasing albums on LA based labels Non-Projects and Geweih Ritual Documents. Justin currently spends most of his time painting and walking his dog in Brooklyn, NY. Daniel Segrove is a young emerging mixed media artist from San Francisco, CA and a recent graduate from Academy of Art University in 2014.  Segrove's work is about human emotion described by combining the outer physical expression of figures with his inner self expressive abstract marks. He often works on burnt paper and other fragile surfaces to coincide with the fragile psyche of

Isaac Bauman is a cinematographer / director of photography born in Philadelphia, PA and grew up in Palo Alto, California.  He went to college at USC for the School of Cinematic Arts Production program, but dropped out halfway because of an opportunity to DP his first full length feature.  He's been working professionally since Sept 2009 and has since shot over 80+ music videos, numerous short films / documentaries, commercials... etc.   He's most proud of his work that evokes emotion.  His work on Florida Man, Cam Girlz, Delta Spirit and Controller are a few of his personal favorite pieces.  Bauman has also worked with many big name musicians / artists including Drake, Rihanna, Kendrick and Sam Smith.  He also worked on Vitalic's Stamina music video which won Best Music Video @ SXSW in 2013. www.artistdecoded.com www.instagram.com/artistdecoded www.twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Jesse Draxler is a fine artist, illustrator, art director and designer currently working out of Los Angeles, CA.  His works are representations of the feelings he has been working through all his life.  Feelings that arise while confronted with a past that is relatively unknown, a future that seems as daunting and horrifying as it does exciting, and a present in which he often feels stale and out of touch with himself.  All with the undercurrent of death forever lurking subtly under the surface of everything he creates. Jesse's client list as an illustrator includes The New York Times and Target.  He's also worked with musicians Prince, Chelsea Wolfe, and The Black Queen (feat. members of NIN, Telefon Tel Aviv and Dillinger Escape Plan), and as an art director / collagist he's worked with magazines Dazed & Confused, Dansk, No Tofu... etc. www.artistdecoded.com www.instagram.com/artistdecoded www.twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Born in Beijing and raised in Singapore, Zhang "zemotion" Jingna is a fashion and beauty photographer currently based in New York.  Her works have been seen in international Harper's Bazaar, Elle and Photo Vogue by Vogue Italia; her commercial clients include Mercedes Benz, Montblanc, Lancome, TRESemme, Pond's and Canon. Imbued with influences from the Pre-Raphaelites, Jingna's photographs are often described as painterly, emotive, and fantastical.  She was selected to be part of Vogue Italia's exhibition "A Glimpse at Photo Vogue" in Milan in 2013.   Jingna is currently working on the art book for her personal series, "Motherland Chronicles". www.artistdecoded.com www.instagram.com/artistdecoded www.twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Michael Donovan is a prolific multi-disciplined creative visionary born in Spokane, WA. Donovan uses photography, video and a podcast to communicate his interests in the "Two Great Bookends of Life," (sex and death) as well as the exciting content that fills our experience.  His irrepressible work trains his eye on spirituality, culture, materialism, youth, aging, objectification, mental health, environmentalism, sexuality, and the confusion and joys we develop from living a life wandering through interesting times.  Both humor and drama often set tones for his work.   Michael's visual art uses strong, visceral, raw, bold imagery with dark and moody undertones.  His work includes fashion, portrait and "sex pop" to create a body of work that is cinematic art, immediately recognizable, and full of life.  Published globally, his work has appeared in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Marie Claire, Playboy, L'Officiel, Ginza, Vision and Wonderland.  Luxury, fashion and music clients include Givenchy, The Pierre Hotel,

John Wentz is a contemporary painter whose process resides in an area between rigid technicality and honest expression.  Working within the classical idiom of the human figure, his goal is to reduce and simplify the image to it's core fundamentals: composition, color, and paint application.  Paint application and brush strokes are broad and simplified as a means to connect and convey these ideas to the viewer in a way that only painting can. John was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.  His interest in art began at the age of 6 when he first discovered Batman and Spiderman comic books.  After years of copying comics panel by panel he worked in the commercial arts as a muralist, billboard creator and freelance illustrator.  After learning to paint by doing airbrushed billboards, he decided to pursue Fine Art and work in oils.  Since then, he has had 3 solo exhibitions in San Francisco and numerous group exhibitions both nationally and internationally.  His works have appeared in many publications an

Casey Baugh is a New York based painter. His work can be described as narrative impressionistic realism.  Specializing in oil paint and charcoal, he began painting at the age of 13 and began selling professionally at age 17.  When he was only 21 years old, Baugh began showing in galleries and after four years of studying with artist Richard Schmid, he had his first solo show at age 25.  He has made several television appearances and has been featured on the covers of many publications, including The Artist's Magazine, American Artist's Magazine, and American Art Collector. Baugh's art has evolved over time to become more narrative.  Though still maintaining figures as his prime subject matter, he is telling more stories, and his series and exhibits are becoming more thematic.  On a constant quest to push new boundaries, he is persistent in experimenting with his inspirations and artistic translations, pursuing more complicated compositions and achieving grander shows.  Experience with electrical engineering a