King Saladeen is a world-renowned self-taught American contemporary artist whose work is exhibited all over the world. The iconic “Money Bear” is his most distinguished work. In his adolescence, Saladeen showed great interest in art with his attention to detail. His family took notice of his gift at an early age and allowed him to beautify the walls of their home with his talent. This was a great outlet that allowed him to express his emotions, gain insight to his creative self, and foster the skills he has mastered today.
Truly zoned in on becoming a successful painter, Saladeen would go full time after a giant push from his late friend John “JP” Thompson. It was JP who bought him his first set of professional art supplies and whose spirit has stayed with him even after his untimely passing. Since then his creativity has evolved and gained him acceptance into the global art world.
Saladeen's work can be viewed on the famed walls of the Big Board Floor Art program of the NYSE. Further diversifying his talents, he also released a capsule clothing collection with Champion athletic wear (2018), debuted his own vinyl sculpture “JP the Money Bear” at ComplexCon (2018) and Shenzhen Toyz Festival in China (2019). Also in 2019 he created artwork for a 200 ft mural on the walls of the Philadelphia International Airport.
Pushing his global presence even further, his “Buy Low Sell High Fashion Forward” piece was purchased by the São Paulo Museum of Art in 2017 . In China, Saladeen made history and created a mural alongside living legends and true pioneers Ron English, Futura, Mad Steez and Seventh Letter in spring of 2018 at Pop Life Pro-Am Film Studio. Saladeen has further solidified his presence in Asia with him finishing a 20 city tour collaboration with Mercedes-Benz in China in 2019.
Never losing sight of his humble upbringing, Saladeen is an active philanthropist. He continues to give back to the community. King Saladeen has managed to give back to his community on several occasions. Whether it be through book bags stuffed with school supplies or a neighborhood basketball tournament; annually the contemporary artist finds time to give back to the kids within his community; just last this year he gave out 14,000 backpacks to kids in Philadelphia and in NYC and this year he helped distribute 20,000 turkeys to families in need. The development of a youthful mind is always a priority for the artist and has done several motivational speeches guiding and shaping young minds
Website: http://www.kingsaladeenart.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingsaladeen
