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Leading up to our big 2-year anniversary show, we're going to share bios on each of the participating artists with a preview of one of their works for the show.

Today we feature Tankpetrol: Tankpetrol is a Polish street artist, now based in Manchester. He uses stencils as his main medium, which he entangles with carefully placed background details, making neat, well-executed art pieces.

Born in 1982 in Poland as Irek Jasutowicz, he spent his teenage years doing graffiti tags. His obsession over details, visible in his artwork, was noticeable in his childhood – he used to spend hours assembling plastic models of planes, boats and tanks. In the later years, he joined the army, where he was a tank driver and tank gunner – and that’s from where his moniker originated. After quitting his army job, in 2006 he moved to Manchester in search of a decent paid job which he couldn’t find in Poland. It was in Manchester where Tankpetrol first got in touch with stencil art, inspired and influenced by anonymous street artists.

His search of personal style and development led him to complex looks, in which he tries to fade stencils and spray paint using other techniques like acrylic paint and various mixed media. Although he doesn’t want to use multi-layered stencils, in order to preserve a certain look of stencil art in his pieces, Tank’s works are highly detailed, full of background elements like upside-down triangles, geometric shapes, self-made fonts, typography and logotypes. Central figures in his work in most cases are women dressed in military fashion, surrounded by animals and depicted in strong posture.

Using a combination of stencils, fonts and traditional paint, Tank is comfortable working across a variety of media and projects that include painting, customizing, creating large scale murals, interior design and carpentry, always retaining the finest quality of his works.

Tankpetrol has gone on to be commissioned by Sven Vath, Channel4, Adidas, Microsoft, Carhartt, San Disk and Red Bull. He has done live painting for many UK and international festivals and events in Sweden, Germany, Lithuania, Malaysia, Poland and France. Tank has exhibited internationally.

Follow Tank Petrol on Instagram: TANKPETROL

Leading up to our big 2-year anniversary show, we're going to share bios on each of the participating artists with a preview of one of their works for the show. (We're running out of time to post all artists, so now we'll have 2 per day!)

Today we feature Tiptoe: Tiptoe was born into the rough and tumble atmosphere of Chicago. He is an artist who has participated in the Street Art movement on a global scale. His work has appeared throughout the United States as well as the Street Art Meccas of: Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Sao Paulo, among others.

Tiptoe came into his own as he danced through the labyrinths of urbanism during the wee hours of the morning. The work rides the line between darkness and light, chaos and control, self-destruction and self-manifestation. It worships the metamorphosis of an urban landscape as a meditation, while harnessing the beast within to navigate the complex urban life.

Leading up to our big 2-year anniversary show, we're going to share bios on each of the participating artists with a preview of one of their works for the show.

Today we feature Olav Mathisen: Olav Mathisen (b. 1990) is a young artist from Lillehammer, Norway. He studied at Ålesund Kunstfagskole, Strykjernet Kunstskole and is currently studying at Bergen academy of art and design. He primarily works with oil and egg tempera on canvas. His subject matter draws from fragments of the human condition; tendencies, roles, and both subjectification and objectification of "the self" in different constructed situations. His paintings consist of a variety of techniques - from total abstraction and thick pastose strokes, to more detailed figurative painting conversing on the same surface.

We are excited to feature Mathisen's work in partnership with Galleri Ramfjord in Oslo, Norway. His first solo exhibition was held there in 2014. This will be his first time showing work at a gallery in the United States.

Follow Olav Mathisen on Instagram: OLAVMATHISENART

Leading up to our big 2-year anniversary show, we're going to share bios on each of the participating artists with a preview of one of their works for the show.

Today we feature Presto: Presto is a dynamic artist who seeks balance in movement and expression. Born in 1976 in São Paulo, Brazil, he showed interest in art since childhood, collecting comics, building toys and imagining creatures. In the early '90s he was introduced to graffiti, which sparked his interest in murals and installations. He has painted in the streets since 1996, developing a colorful, imaginative, narrative and character-based style. He studied at the Carlos de Campos school, home to many renowned Brazilian street artists from São Paulo including Alex Hornest (Onesto), Speto, and Os Gemeos. Presto often paints on aged, weathered wood and naturally rusted metals, creating a visual contrast with the clean line quality of his stylized, animation-inspired figures.

In 2007 he had his first solo show in São Paulo and has since presented his work in New York, Tokyo, Washington, Basel, Los Angeles, London and Beijing, as well as appearing in major art collections. Having seen his work on walls in Wynwood (Miami) this past December, we immediately invited Presto to our 2-year anniversary show. This is Presto's first time showing in Chicago.

Leading up to our big 2-year anniversary show, we're going to share bios on each of the participating artists with a preview of one of their works for the show.

Today we feature Martin Whatson: Martin Whatson (b. 1984) is a Norwegian born and based stencil artist. While studying Art and Graphic design at Westerdals School of Communication, Oslo, he discovered stencils and the urban art scene. After following graffiti and its development, he started his own stencil production 10 years ago in the winter of 2004.

Martin has a continuous urge to search for beauty in what is commonly dismissed as ugly, out of style or simply left behind. He looks for inspiration in people, city landscapes, old buildings, graffiti, posters and decaying walls. This interest for decay has helped develop his style, motives and composition and he enjoys creating either unity or conflict between materials, backgrounds and human intervention. His artistic expression started more political, but has developed into a more subtle expression blending graffiti, stencil art and decay together. Inspired by artist like Jose Parlá and Cy Twombly, his abstract graffiti and stencils are a mix of urban scenes showing the development of a walls lifetime. He use grey tones as a foundation but adds vibrant colors to break the monochrome concrete expression and bring a splash of life to his work. Since his artistic debut in 2004, he has had several solo shows and participated in many group exhibitions, both nationally and internationally.