15 Artists We Discovered Thanks to Kanye West's Old Blog

Yeezy taught you about more visual art than you may realize.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Love him or hate him, Kanye West is a cultural trendsetter. Look no further than his collection with APC that dropped yesterday, causing a fuss over its prices yet making everyone wish they had tried to cop at least one of the tees. Beyond style and music, Kanye has put on a lot of visual artists, if not simply by bringing them to an audience outside of the art world. In a time where Jay-Z is probably teaching a lot of kids who Marina Abramovic is, it's pretty incredible when you examine how musicians influence and promote the strictly fine art world. 

Back when Kanye used to blog, he was giving people a candid taste of his inspirations, perhaps as he was planning projects and releases. While he doesn't anymore, we remember the days when he name-dropped a mix of unknowns and legends in the art game. Maybe you already know about these, but maybe you don't. Check out 15 Artists We Discovered Thanks to Kanye West's Old Blog and learn about these creators before you're late.

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Marco Brambilla

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Francoise Gamma

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Francoise Gamma

Francoise Gamma's animations take the human form and place it into overtly sexual or highly athletic scenes. His lines are simple, but the end results are futuristic and sublime. Similar to Jim Joe, who Kanye collaborated with for Yeezus, Gamma's work has an understated brilliance. It's a shame that Gamma and Kanye haven't collaborated yet, or at least not that we know of. 

Update: We've learned that Gamma did an animation for Kanye, below. [via]

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Peter Saul

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John Pound

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Thierry Le Gouès

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Kara Walker

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Alberto Seveso

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Alberto Seveso

Alberto Seveso's pops up on non-pegged blogs and Reddit threads frequently, because his underwater ink photographs are unqiue and worthy of being shared over and over again. Some of his images are so spectacular and well-lit that they appear computer-generated. Kanye only posted this image of his work, but it was enough for many to dig deeper into Alberto's portfolio.

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Robert Longo

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Daniele Buetti

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Marc Lagrange

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Gabi Trinkaus

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Eugenio Recuenco

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Stephen J Shanabrook

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John Currin

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Jean-Paul Goude

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