Kevin "Kre8" Vigil

Art Brokerage: Park West Artist: Kevin Vigil German Artist: b. 1980. There is no mistaking the art of Kevin "Kre8" Vigil. His distinct style of colorful, abstract splashes against black-and-gray compositions has earned him fans around the world. Drawing on a unique background steeped in graffiti art, tattoo artistry, and a love of Surrealism, Kre8 has inspired art lovers to share in his vision of enjoying creativity and life. Born in Germany in 1980, Kre8 moved to the United States at the age of 5. As a child of a military family, he never remained in one location for long. From an early age, Kre8's passion for creating art was apparent. "I was always drawing and doodling," says Kre8. However, his artistic talent was not recognized in school. Kre8 struggled to take direction from his art class instructors, typically favoring his own ideas. At the age of 14, a group of graffiti artists approached Kre8 and invited him to try his hand at graffiti. He joined the group, which came to be known as "Kre8 and ATF," and participated in graffiti displays across the United States for the next decade. It was during this period that he adopted the pseudonym "Kre8." He says that "Kre" stands for "Knowledge Reveals Evolution" while the 8 represents the infinity symbol turned vertical. Though Kre8 has experimented with many artistic genres including Impressionism, Cubism, and Surrealism, he describes his own artistic style as "Kre8izm," which combines aspects of Surrealism and abstract art. Kre8 references Dalí as one of his first artistic influences, but also draws inspiration from the works of Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Pablo Picasso. Listings wanted