Hello art and reggae world enthusiast! Let me introduce you to my partner and his amazing poster art. Michael Thompson aka Freestylee, artist without borders. Freestylee is a prolific “creative activist.” Much of his awareness designs shared on Flickr and on his freestylee.net website express support and solidarity with people who suffer the oppressive social, political and economic ills of our time. He accomplishes this by using the power of social design and media to stimulate awareness and to spark conversation about our threatened freedoms and the increasing cruelty imposed on disadvantage people worldwide. This he communicate through beautiful and colorful iconic poster designs. Freestylee has immersed himself in center of reggae music and Jamaican popular culture and many of the pieces he has designed over the years are inspired by the progressive messages and energy of early reggae singers, such as, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Culture, Horace Andy and Burning Spear. He has developed an exciting collection of works celebrating his Jamaican heritage and the inspiring characters that made reggae a global force. He captures the style of the urban rude boy and the royal richness of Rastafarian culture, and the symbolisms of Kingston’s vibrant street culture from the 1960s through 1980s.
I share with you some of his amazing posters.
Posters are available for sale at 50×70 cm and 35×50 cm. Take a look or visit our website at www.freestylee.net
Michael Thompson, aka Freestylee, studied graphic design at the Jamaica School of Art in Kingston, Jamaica, now the renowned Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. In the early 1980s, he landed an apprenticeship in Kingston, and started to experiment with simple, silhoutted design concepts suitable or screen printing and poster art.
Michael has participated in numerous awareness campaigns for organizations such as Code Pink, Gaza Freedom March, Living History Forum of Stockholm Sweden, and Face Africa clean water efforts in Africa and recently his posters have appeared on the streets of the Arab Spring. He participated in the exhibition, “Edna Manley’s Bogle a Contest of Icons, 2010” curated by Executive Director Veerle Poupeye of the National Gallery of Jamaica, the oldest and largest public art gallery in the Anglophone Caribbean. His work has successfully traveled through Europe with the “Reggae Movement Exhibition:” telling the story of the Reggae Sound System’s journey from Kingston, Jamaica to Europe (2011). As a consultant he offered his services on design projects for the National Urban League. Currently, “Freestylee: artist without borders” is exhibited at the Drum Arts Center in Birmingham UK, July 16 through September 2012 , organized by curator David Thomas.
Feature articles about Michael have appeared in international magazines, Riddim, Samuel, Irie Up, Page, Arise and international blogs such as ARC magazine, Graphicart-news.com, etc.
The Freestylee website
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