Editor's Pick: Best Genre-defying Artist - OGRE

Matt Grote, a.k.a. OGRE, is an artist who lives and works in Buffalo and has exhibited his frantic, illustrative, street-style artwork at 464 Gallery, Allen Street Hardware Café, and Asbury Hall at Babeville. Whether it is in bold black and white or vibrant colors, Grote’s line style is energetic and dynamic, drawing inspiration from underground street cultures and graffiti street art. While he has explored many characters including villains, Grote focuses mainly on his alter ego, OGRE. Grote makes use of OGRE as a way to create a character that has the potential to grow larger than life and as a way to remove himself from the bigger picture, similar to the way street artists use tag names to create public personae. What Ogre lacks in eloquence he makes up for with an in-your-face personality that comes through in bold and bright street art that speaks for itself. Follow Ogre at bigbluteddybear.tumblr.com.

- jill greenberg