the STORY
Misha Tyutyunik is a Ukrainian-born, painter, muralist, street artist, illustrator, and most recently, virtual reality artist, living and working out of Brooklyn, New York. A graduate of Pratt Institute, he travels the world creating murals and is regularly commissioned to paint and illustrate for many reputable brands, publications and collectors.
The artist works in a variety of styles and media, to produce pieces that are both visually striking and thought provoking. His work, while tailored to the task at hand, always retains his persona and aesthetic. Misha balances his life between corporate endeavors, public art and personal work, often painting with youth and community organizations and exhibiting in galleries throughout New York and abroad.
Misha is a Fulbright Grant recipient (completed in Ukraine, 2018-2019 with a focus on public art), and was recently commissioned to create his largest mural to date, spanning a whole Brooklyn block, for the NYC Department of Transportation’s Asphalt Activation initiative.
Artist Statement
As an immigrant from Soviet Ukraine, I have always seen art as a global language. My artistic practice is informed by urbanism, cultural identity, iconography, and contemporary popular culture, and is influenced by ‘Golden Age’ graffiti, Japanese prints, Abstract Expressionism, Mexican and WPA Muralism, German Expressionism, and Social Realism. Utilizing expressive brushstrokes and bold colors, I aim to create work that is culturally and socially aware, while also aesthetically, visually and compositionally sound. Both locally and abroad, working in underserved spaces where I have existing relationships and new ones where there is the potential of creating public art to be used as a tool for social change, is the priority for me.
ON MURALS AND COMMUNITY
Building on the tradition of WPA murals which sought to represent the masses, and utilizing my own experience working with marginalized communities and public art/community engagement organizations such as Fulbright, Groundswell, BRIC, Booklyn Arts Council, and SoBRO to create public art, I always aim to provide a more democratic platform for those outside of the professional artistic realm and who live, work and learn in the community where the art will be fabricated, facilitating a more equitable community involvement model.
Ultimately, the generative result of this is that communities can then be empowered to replicate this model of collective critical thinking and have more authentic ownership of the visual aesthetic of their neighborhood.
