Five of the Best Urban Artists for 2012

1) Pure Evil

Pure Evil creates urban art using popular culture, celebrity and social issues as inspiration. As well as signing his work, each print is fingerprint authenticated on the reverse - easy to identify due to a scar on his fingertip http://www.artrepublic.com/biographies/53-pure-evil.html . Notable prints include     (a silk screen signed limited edition of 100), featuring Elizabeth Taylor and (a silkscreen signed limited edition of 150), depicting the silhouette of a gun overlaid with a street map. is inspired by the poster for the film , which features a map of New York in the shape of a gun. In , Pure Evil uses a section of two streets in Hackney to draw attention to the violence in that area.

2) Richard Duardo

Richard Duardo is an expert screen printer and artist based in Los Angeles . As the master printer at the Modern Multiples collective he has produced work for more than 300 artists including Banksy and David Hockney . Duardo's own work takes inspiration from popular culture, featuring historical figures and icons, often combining muted photographic qualities with colourful backgrounds.  Particularly striking prints to look out for in 2012 include (a hand finished signed limited edition of five), featuring the jazz legend against a vibrant background and , a repeat print of Frida Kahlo with an alternating colour way.

3) Prefab77

Prefab77 is a Newcastle based collective of urban artists, with inspiration including the punk movement, British royalty, NME magazine and British patriotism. Prefab77 is known for creating huge multi-storey murals against buildings http://www.artrepublic.com/biographies/243-prefab77.html, typically using a combination of acrylic, spray paint, varnish and inks on wood or paper. Look out for (a signed limited edition of 100 prints), featuring the portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth , emerging from a background of layered graffiti and winking at the viewer.

4) PUSH

Canadian artist PUSH, takes inspiration from evolutionary biology and human behaviour, her work is influenced by stencil artists from Buenos Aires and mural street artists such as Blu. PUSH intends to create art which is aesthetically pleasing with thought provoking social undertones http://www.artrepublic.com/biographies/344-push.html. Current prints include featuring a repeat print of wind up doll figures, with the leading figure falling apart and     , a silkscreen of a girl opening a door on her chest to reveal her heart. Each limited edition print is signed and numbered by the artist. PUSH uses a limited colour palette of brown, grey, cream, black and red, printing on Coventry rag vellum 320 gsm paper. Limited edition prints are produced in small quantities of just 14-30.

5) Speedy Graphito

Speedy Graphito is a French stencil graffiti artist, his inspiration includes advertising logos, 1950s America, Manga illustration, cartoons from popular culture and Mayan imagery. His prints are generally produced in limited edition quantities of 30-50 prints. A print to look out for in 2012 is , an image reflective of 'Snow White', with a retro striped logo in the place of the poisoned apple.

Andrew Milledge of artrepublic, comments: "Limited edition street art prints are a popular choice for the home, with a diversity of styles to choose from. We've noticed an increased interest in urban art prints this year with artists such as Copyright and Pure Evil, growing in popularity."  

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