10 Photos Of Kanye With Artists You Should Know

Still from "Runaway" Film

It's no secret that Kanye is equal parts musician, artist, designer, and influencer. He gets in with the right people, albeit producers, art directors, or filmmakers, many of which we imagine he's enlisting for DONDA. 

Throughout the years, Kanye's been seen hanging out with a ton of artists — the type of game-changers who continuously dominate visual culture. Many of them he's not only befriended, but also recruited for his biggest projects and collaborations. If you need to up your art knowledge, here's your chance to learn through Yeezy. 

10 Photos Of Kanye With Artists You Should Know

Kanye and Spike Jonze

Why you should know about him: Spike Jonze is an award-winning director, producer, and actor, perhaps best known for his 1999 film, Being John Malkovich, which won an Academy Award. He co-wrote and directed Where The Wild Things Are, has done music videos with artists like Weezer, the Beastie Boys, and Björk, and co-created MTV's Jackass.

In October 2009, Jonze and Kanye released a collaborative video called "We Were Once a Fairy Tale." He also worked on the Glow in the Dark tour and interviewed Kanye for the introduction of the tour's photography book. He directed the "Otis" video from Kanye and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne album.

Why you should know about him: Takashi Murakami is a prolific Japanese artist, whose work spans a multitude of fine art endeavors and groundbreaking collaborations with labels like Issey Miyake and Louis Vuitton. As part of his ongoing exploration and determination to define post-war Japanese art, he coined the term "Superflat," which theorizes that there is flat, 2-D imagery in both Japanese art historically and the manga and anime of today.

He designed the artwork for Kanye's Graduation album in 2007. He also directed the animated music video for "Good Morning."

"Japanese people accept that art and commerce will be blended; and in fact, they are surprised by the rigid and pretentious Western hierarchy of ‘high art.’ In the West, it certainly is dangerous to blend the two because people will throw all sorts of stones. But that's okay—I’m ready with my hard hat."

Kanye and KAWS

Why you should know about him: In addition to being one of our 25 Most Important Artists of 2012 (So Far), KAWS is an artist whose work began in graffiti and quickly became in-demand vinyl toys, clothing, sculptures, and acrylic paintings. He's done work all over the world, always blurring the line between fine art and mass-produced commercial art, which includes collaborations with BAPE, Jun Takahashi, Kung Faux, Burton, Nike, Vans, Comme des Garçons, Dos Equis, and the Simpsons.

"When you paint over ads, it clicks—especially with the phone booths I was doing. There were these Calvin Klein ads of Kate Moss or Christy Turlington. I think that’s when I realized it was more about communication. There was a dialogue to it."

Kanye and Hype Williams

Why you should know about him: Hype Williams has been a legendary director and filmmaker since the 90s, known for his music videos for The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Aaliyah, Coldplay, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Jack White, and of course, Kanye. In 1998, he directed the film Belly starring Nas and DMX. From the start, Hype's style has been known for using fisheye lenses, wide angles, and vibrant coloring, and he's won countless awards over the years.

He directed Kanye's videos for "Gold Digger," "Diamonds from Sierra Leone," "All of the Lights," and the to-be-released "Way Too Cold." He also wrote the 34-minute film "Runaway" for Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album. 

"That's probably what stimulated my interests in color...I wanted to be Basquiat or Keith Haring of the streets."

Kanye and Riccardo Tisci

Why you should know about him: Riccardo Tisci is well-known in the fashion world as the Creative Director of Givenchy, but he's recently shown the world the greater depth of his design skills. He did an interesting collaboration with Kehinde Wiley for his May 2012 painting exhibit, An Economy of Grace, where he designed all of the dresses that Wiley painted on his subjects.

He designed Kanye and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne album packaging and cover, including the single covers for "H.A.M.," "Otis," and "N*ggas in Paris." He also designed the T-shirts that Kanye and Jay-Z wore on tour.

"I design everything with my team, which is fantastic and small. I design by look...I very much have my feet on the ground, and I know what I want, but there is also a side of me which is a little softer, still a little bit of a boy who has not grown up and who listens a lot."

Kanye and Terry Richardson

Why you should know about him: Terry Richardson has photographed for every major magazine and brand out there. From GQ to Vogue to campaigns for Marc Jacobs and YSL, Terry Richardson is a force, who many say brought filth and raw sexuality back into fashion photography.

"My rule is that I'd never ask anyone to do anything I wouldn't do myself...that's how it's got to go this far...It's about creating a vibe, getting people relaxed and excited. When that happens, you can do anything."

George Condo

Why you should know about him: George Condo is an American visual artist who has been a key figure in painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking since the 1980s. He sees himself as an artificial realist, coining the term to mean "the realistic representation of that which is artificial." He's been monumentally influential to a crop of younger painters since his days in NYC's East Village, where he occasionally worked at Andy Warhol's studio, later working between Los Angeles, Munich, and Paris. He also collaborated with famed writer William S. Boroughs on a drawing/writing series titled "Ghost of Chance," published by the Whitney Museum in 1991.

In 2010, Condo created the now well-known paintings for Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album, including the cover, the "Power" single cover, the "Runaway" single cover, and tour merchandise. These paintings were also part of a limited release of Hermes scarves done by Kanye and Condo. Most recently, he painted the single cover for "Way Too Cold."

"Being a young artist in the early ’80s was an uphill battle. There was a lot of pressure to work big — like Georg Baselitz, Julian Schnabel and David Salle — but a signature style was something I rebelled against."

Kanye and Karl Lagerfeld

Why you should know about him: Karl Lagerfeld is a legend, and not just for his position as head designer and creative director at Chanel. He's published books, established himself as a brilliant photographer, had multiple exhibitions (his most recent show in NYC, Little Black Jacket, blew us away), and collaborated with the best of the best across fashion, art, and music.

Karl Lagerfeld photographed Kanye for the Spring 2011 issue of VMAN and included him in his Little Black JacketChanel exhibition.

"I'm not a marketing person. I don't ask myself questions. I go by instinct."

Kanye and Vanessa Beecroft

Why you should know about her: Vanessa Beecroft is known for her provocative performance art involving the female body, which she has staged in museums and galleries worldwide since 1993. Each piece is tailored as a cultural, political, and social commentary on the place in which it is performed.

In 2008, Beecroft created a performance art installation for the private 808s & Heartbreak album listening party in Los Angeles, where forty nude women stood as the album played in the background. In October 2010, Beecroft art directed Kanye's 34-minute Runaway film.

Kanye and Tom Sachs

Why you should know about him: In addition to being another one of our 25 Most Important Artists of 2012 (So Far), Tom Sachs has been a critical artist since the 90s. His early work juxtaposed fashion and violence, with exhibitions like Cultural Prosthetics and Creativity is the Enemy, using Hermés and Tiffany's packaging and Prada, Chanel, and McDonalds logos. At one point, gallerist Mary Boone was arrested for a Sachs exhibition representing the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, which allowed visitors to take live ammunition from an Alvar Aalto vase.

His latest show, SPACE PROGRAM: MARS at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC simulated an actual journey from Earth to Mars, which made for an art experiment that stunned anyone who got the chance to experience it. 

"We have our system of making things out of certain materials...and of showing the scars of our labor and the history of our efforts... We have the 'your way', 'my way', and 'the right way,' and I must insist everything is done my way, even if it takes longer."