MEET THE ARTISTS OF CITYPRINTSNYC:
Get a closer look at the humans behind your favorite prints and originals.
CITYPRINTSNYC prides itself in working with local artists and makers who align with our core missions of visibility, representation, inclusion, and safety. We believe there’s room for everyone, and everyone deserves respect, and that’s “Our Story.” You’re invited to help us keep writing it.
Our people,
Our art,
Our Story.
We are CITYPRINTSNYC.
Santiago Villegas
(he/him) is a Colombian artist living in Brooklyn. His artistic name, brand and social media handle "Santi of all Trades" comes from his multidisciplinary nature. Reflecting someone who came from a background in math and physics but decided to switch careers into arts and has enjoyed all sorts of hobbies and passions including music, juggling, mural painting and all kinds of crafts.
His medium of choice is digital illustration. His typical work is not particularly interested in symbolism and you will rarely hear him saying more than a couple of sentences about the meaning of his pieces. Sometimes a rat hugging a pizza is just that, and it is meant to bring us the comfort and simplicity we rarely have in our daily lives as we struggle to live in the moment. That's why his subjects are fun, whimsical, childish and weird, which happens in contrast to how technical his process and style are.
His most prominent projects are called Lost in the City and World of Kataa.
Lost in the City is about the stories of a city rat that explores NYC, enjoying the street food and the city life. World of Kataa is a more open ended concept creating a setting for many fantastical creatures in a world full of life. The art from both series has produced stickers, prints, and other accessories that have become a small art business.
anna thorne
(she/her) is an award-winning visual artist living in Astoria, Queens, who quickly fell in love with photography at the age of twelve when she received her first point and shoot camera. Thorne went on to receive her M.F.A. in Studio Arts at the University of Notre Dame on a full tuition waiver where she also worked as a Photography Instructor. She uses the act of photographing as a form of moving meditation, perceiving her photographs as visual remnants of her experience with the present moment.
Thorne’s art and writing on photography has been published and exhibited both nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at the Snite Museum of Art, the Southeast Museum of Photography, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Millepiani (Italy), Kaiser Gallery (Cleveland), The Martin (Chicago), the Orlando Public Library and the Orlando Science Center, among others. Her work is in the collection of the Southeast Museum of Photography in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Learn more about Anna and her artwork here.
Kate Durkin
(she/her) is an artist and illustrator who creates whimsical illustrations, paintings and murals inspired by nature, food, and the city that surrounds her. Growing up in Washington D.C., she always created art in one form or another, including print making, ceramics, painting, and writing graffiti. She has lived, worked, and studied art in New York City, Florence, Italy, and San Francisco.
In 2009, she returned to NYC and settled in Sunnyside, Queens, where she now lives with her husband and three children. She creates artwork and products for people of all ages, including a line of pillows and prints inspired by New York City. In 2022, she illustrated two children’s books, one of which is an homage to her neighborhood of Sunnyside, Queens. She is endlessly inspired by her neighborhood and borough, how nature coexists with the city and the unique perspectives and cultures that the diversity of Queens brings.
Adrian Bermeo
(he/him) [b. 1989 NYC] is a LatinX Expressionist painter with a background in graffiti - based between Jersey City and Brooklyn. While reflecting Hip-Hop and Caribbean cultures, the artists’ characters, abstracts and still-life pieces are charged with an intuitive process of drips, spray paint, splashed colors and raw textures made with organic materials such as coffee grounds mixed into his pigments. Many of his Vejigante tributes are interpretations of Puerto Rican folkloric symbols which Bermeo uses as translators from a spiritual world who relay his ideas and messages.
As an interdisciplinary artist, Bermeo’s practice ranges from community outreach events, graphic design, gallery curation, painting workshops, private collections both international and domestic as well as fundraising auctions at The Queens Museum for Elmhurst Hospital during 2020’s pandemic and onward.
Check out his newsletter here.
Alejandro Pinzon
es un artista de la escuela naïf y primitivista por mas de 30 años. El trabaja principalmente en óleo, y sus obras reflejan todo aquello que le inquieta y rodea. Busca la inspiración en los recuerdos, vivencias, cuentos, historias, música, costumbres de su pueblo donde crecío y en lo que pueda sentir un personal afecto.
Su intención de sus obras a través del proceso de creación es interactuar con el público de la manera más sencilla y entendible con el fin que sea él quien complete o transforme la obra con su interpretación y admiración.
En definitiva, sus obras se plantean como una intervención directa del espectador, invitándolo a conocer su mundo y su más estrecha intimidad.
Pueden conocer mas de Alejandro Pinzon aqui.
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Alejandro Pinzon (he/him) has been an artist in the school of naïf art and primitivism for over 30 years. He principally works in oil, and his pieces reflect his surroundings and everything that inspires his curiosity. He searches for inspiration in memories, lived experiences, stories, history, music, customs from his home town and matters of personal effect.
He strives for interaction with the public in a simple and consumable manner, reproaching the viewer to complete or transform his work through their own interpretation and eyes.
Each work definitively plants itself as an intervention for the viewer, inviting them to familiarize themselves with Alejandro Pinzon's world and its deepest intimacies.
Linda Ganjian
(she/her) is a NY-based artist who works in a variety of materials, from clay to cement to paper. Much of her work presents memories and impressions of the urban landscape, the specific history of a site, or more personal narratives. Her work has been exhibited in New York and abroad, and encompasses sculpture and drawing.
She completed a public art commission for the NYC School Construction Authority in 2014 at IS230 and for the MTA in 2016 at the 111th street A train station in Ozone Park.
In 2019, she was a QCA ArtPort resident at LaGuardia Airport in the beautiful Art Deco Marine Air Terminal, where she spent her afternoons drawing landscapes of Queens and offering free postcards to passers-by. These postcards were captioned with some historical facts to offer travelers some insight into the borough of Queens. You can visit her shop here.
She lives in Jackson Heights with her son and husband, where she organizes a local artist talk series called JH Art Talks.
Aj the Awful
(she/they) is a classically trained fine artist, starting private art lessons at just 5 years old. She went on to study at Pratt Institute and pursued a career in branding design. For many years she worked as a Creative Director for various Manhattan Branding Agencies, and her fine art took a back burner.
It wasn’t until she moved to Astoria, Queens that she became inspired to paint again. She was instantly enchanted by this New York City neighborhood that had retained so much small-town charm. She was moved by the generations of immigrant families, struggling artists, and diverse array of cultures that had come together to create a supportive & collaborative environment. This marked the first time she ever felt at home. She began recording the different architectural styles that patchwork every block which gave historic evidence of different cultural influences moving in throughout history.
She began painting her neighborhood 10 years ago because she was inspired by its magic. And now, she paints to protect it and to commemorate it as it rapidly changes in this commercial economy. She has become a leader in her community who is vocal and active in preserving the landmarks, staples, and affordability in her Neighborhood.
Today, she owns her own design studio, Occult Creative, that specializes in illustrated products. But she still paints in order to capture and immortalize her beloved home.
Talisa Almonte
(she/her) is an Afro-Dominican artist and illustrator with a background in fashion, graphic design and traditional fine arts. She is also the artist behind Almonte Studio, established in March 2021, under the name Almonte Studio as a way to honor the artists' father who passed away in Feb 2021, and had a creative business of his own called, "Almonte Estudio". Her work and products are inspired by color usage, nature, TV/film, pop culture and BIPOC representation. Talisa is inspired by the idea that art can be empowering and inspiring to others and believes in the importance of individuality, diversity and creating messages of positivity.
Ryan rivera
(they/he) is an internationally published photographer from Queens, NY. Ryan’s upbringing in the “World’s Borough,” has instilled them with a hunger for unique perspectives, which they explore through photography. The borough's varied landscapes–from wetlands to dense pockets of deciduous trees to looming industrial infrastructure–serve as a natural contrast for Ryan to explore in his work.
Contrast is a running theme in Ryan's work: familiarity in the chaos, dread in the solitude, the view of a famous skyline from the outskirts of an oft-forgotten bay.
These contrasts bleed into Ryan's portraits and digital edits which often explore themes such as gender, ancestry, spirituality, religion, vulnerability, and our relationship to nature.
Ryan specializes in landscape, portrait, experimental, and editorial photography. Check out more of their work online at imagerybyryan.darkroom.tech.
ET
(he/they) is a creative, visual artist, and native New Yorker, born and raised to immigrant parents in Jackson Heights, Queens. A life-long resident of NYC, ET’s unique environment shaped much of himself and how they view the world. They see NYC and its people as a constant source of inspiration and try to capture its grandeur within their artwork. Their main mediums include pencil, pen, ink wash, watercolor, and digital art. Their favorite subjects include skylines, urban landscapes, fashion, human expression, and the immigrant & working class experience.
Community means everything to ET, and creating a sense of belonging is something they’re constantly seeking to provide through their work and art. That’s why ET founded CITYPRINTSNYC in 2021, to give this community a home, and invite y’all to write “Our Story,” together.
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