Neck Face is a semi-anonymous graffiti artist born in the Bay area in 1984. He is considered semi-anonymous because, unlike Banksy for example, he no longer covers his face however his real name has yet to be released. Neck Face is very much a character that is being played – an extension of the artist. Even though Neck Face is well known he chooses to maintain this air of mystery because, as he simply puts it, “When people don’t know, they wonder.” In an interview with the San Francisco Bay Guardian, he confesses that he that he tells people Neck Face is a “crackhead” and “only comes out at night.”.
During his time in the Bay Area he began to develop so called Neck Face. He states that, “Neck Face was always inside of me but came out in high school.” After high school, Neck Face moved to Brooklyn and entered art school, however dropped out 2 years later because he felt that, for him, it was a waste of time and money.
As well a being an artist, Neck Face is a skater, and because of this has found an immense amount of support within the skating community. I think that it would be fair to say that this is the primary community that Neck Face exists within. More than just being well known within the community he is an active participant designing decks and other merchandise for Baker Skateboards.
As Neck Face has gained popularity in and out of the skating community he has begun to move from the streets into the galleries.
Though Neck Face isn’t everyone’s cup of tea he is fiercely individualistic and seems to view the process in a refreshingly pure way. When asked about the progress that he has made he states, “I’m going with the flow. I didn’t know this would happen, all the mags and galleries. I’ve always been doing this. Now I just have shows. If it all goes away, I’ll still be doing this. This is what makes me happy.”
His work is unmistakable, using colorful, graphic cartoons with morbid themes and phrases. While many people find his work violent and offensive, Neck Face aims to make people laugh with his dark sense of humor, as he says in an interview with Vice Magazine a few years ago.
Penelope Crowe
Citations
Lori Spears. “Neck Face is not a crackhead: Surviving face skids and ducking fans from NYC to Tokyo, Neck Face becomes the new art-world target”. San Francisco Bay Guardian. Accessed November 30, 2015. http://www.sfbg.com/39/18/cover_art_neck_face_interview.html
“Neck Face”. Vice Media. Accessed November 30, 2015. http://www.vice.com/video/neckface
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