James Dillon Wright
Encyclopedia
James Dillon Wright aka Dillon Boy (Born May 29, 1979), is a contemporary artist
, graphic designer
, toy designer and illustrator
. He began private lessons at the age of 9, and made his first professional sale at the age of 14.
He currently lives and works in Italy
.
and Pop Art
movements, such as Banksy
and Shephard Fairey.
During the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, Dillon's work was included alongside Fairey's stylized stencil portrait of Barack Obama
, known as the Barack Obama "Hope" poster
. His own portrait of Barack Obama
, titled "The Blue Knight," used acrylic, spray paint and oil markers. It was featured in the same TIME Magazine Person of the Year 2008 article that featured Fairey's Barack Obama "Hope" poster on the cover.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, graphic designer
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
, toy designer and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
. He began private lessons at the age of 9, and made his first professional sale at the age of 14.
He currently lives and works in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Technique
Dillon uses a stencil and spray paint technique to create his work. His work has been called "pop avante-garde." He is reportedly inspired by artists involved with the Street ArtStreet art
Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
and Pop Art
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
movements, such as Banksy
Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter.His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique...
and Shephard Fairey.
During the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, Dillon's work was included alongside Fairey's stylized stencil portrait of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, known as the Barack Obama "Hope" poster
Barack Obama "Hope" poster
The Barack Obama "Hope" poster is an image of Barack Obama designed by artist Shepard Fairey, which was widely described as iconic and became synonymous with the 2008 Obama presidential campaign...
. His own portrait of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, titled "The Blue Knight," used acrylic, spray paint and oil markers. It was featured in the same TIME Magazine Person of the Year 2008 article that featured Fairey's Barack Obama "Hope" poster on the cover.