Essentials: Jay West

There’s something innately youthful about Jay West‘s art. The New York-based artist tends to work with polarizing, evocative subjects from the canon of pop culture, blending a sharp sense of humor with a taste for the aesthetically bold. West’s painting talents have led to brushes with A$AP Mob, a forthcoming project with A Bathing Ape, and even successful showings in one of the world’s most critical art scenes – Chelsea. In many ways, West represents a refreshing new breed of young artist – one less concerned with convention and more so with personal style, as it is with burgeoning music as well. HYPEBEAST got the opportunity to sit with West to speak about his essential items. Despite his array of influences, which include hip-hop music, religion, cartoon characters and Greek mythology, it’s clear in this edition of Essentials that West is chiefly preoccupied with one thing: his work.