Fusing street art and graffiti with freeform painting techniques, SMURFO's multi-disciplinary creativity is undeniable and unmistakable. Born in Harlem to a family of jazz and funk pioneers, SMURFO was raised in Brooklyn, where he now lives and works. As a kid he crafted his own hybrid animal figures and was inspired to draw and cartoon by TV series like Cartoon Network’s Toonami. He went on to study at the High School of Art and Design where graffiti came into his line of sight. “I started hitting streets right around 16 years old after a year of practicing my tag, once I finally came to SMURFO.” He gained experience as part of The Funk Squad, a crew of writers out of Queens, and has evolved to artwork that poses questions and creates a dialogue - “a moment of self-reflection, or a moment of realizing a truth that they might not have wanted to accept before… I like to write it in a way where it’s going to touch everybody.”

As well as a street artist and DJ, SMURFO is an illustrator and painter, producing works in pen, ink and paint that continue to target the underbelly of popular icons and institutions. SMURFO’s canvases feature colorful collages of his inspirations and loves: a kind of personal cultural archive with often kaleidoscopic results, layered with anime figures, street style and Disney characters. He also brings his art to his own apparel brand, Steady Handed Hooligans, and is possibly best known for his character, Roscoe the Rat, a NYC icon.

SMURFO’s advice to new artists? “Just stick with it. Everybody’s style has to sharpen up. Do not be afraid to improve. Just because you feel like this one aesthetic you have is going to be the thing, I’m saying don’t be afraid to do it even better or to trim the fat.”