"Gabriel Amzallag loves hip-hop music, so much so that he has his own alter ego: MC Blue Matter. For nearly a decade, he's been shaping visual identities through album art, animation and illustrations for streetwear brands to labels like Sony Music. Whereas his art work - which has spanned over 200 single and album covers - has found a place in exhibitions and music videos, his illustrations are from the streets and for the streets."
""At fourteen, I went to Basquiat's first exhibition in many years in Paris and it completely shook me. His work was about everything I loved: comic books, jazz, hip-hop and modern art," says Gabriel. "That experience inspired me to become an artist and create my own style rooted in the things I am passionate about, without caring if it looked good in a 'traditional' way.""
"Inspired by diverse visual cultures such as seventies funk album covers, archival photographs from old Moroccan Jews, posters from eighties Hong Kong action movies, Bauhaus design, and Harajuku style magazines (not to mention artists like MF Doom who literally merge comic books and rap) Gabriel channels his gratitude and love back into his illustrations by uplifting "underdogs, beautiful losers and anyone who does not quite fit the mould"."
Gabriel Amzallag loves hip-hop and performs as MC Blue Matter. For nearly a decade he has shaped visual identities through album art, animation and illustrations for streetwear brands and labels such as Sony Music. His artwork spans over 200 single and album covers and appears in exhibitions and music videos, while his illustrations remain rooted in street culture. His pop-culture pieces blend satire and admiration to uplift underdogs, celebrate outsiders and reference fan communities such as the New York Yankees and lucha libre. Early exposure to David Hockney and Sonia Delaunay and a teenage encounter with Basquiat influenced his style and drive to create authentically.
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