Paul Kostabi, born in 1962 in Whittier, California, is a painter of Estonian descent and a prominent figure in the contemporary art and music scenes.
He entered the New York art world at a very young age during the early 1980s, a pivotal moment when the city was considered the global capital of contemporary art—home to icons like Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Julian Schnabel, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Kostabi’s work emerged from the energetic culture of street art and resonates with the spirit of Art Brut as defined by Jean Dubuffet. His artistic style is a unique blend of precision and deliberate carelessness, making his visual language instantly recognizable.
His first exhibition dates back to 1983, and by 1985, he was already showing at Ronald Feldman Gallery—then one of the most prestigious art spaces in New York. In 1991, he exhibited at Carnegie Hall and throughout the 1990s in major galleries across the U.S. His European debut came in 2002, followed by a long series of high-profile shows worldwide.
Paul Kostabi is also a well-known musician. He co-founded the bands Youth Gone Mad (1981), White Zombie (1984), and Psychotica. In 2002, he performed Blitzkrieg Bop at the Roseland Ballroom in New York alongside Dee Dee Ramone, C.J. Ramone, Daniel Rey, and Marky Ramone—the final time these Ramones members shared a stage. He later recorded and performed with Dee Dee Ramone (Too Tough to Die Live), and also collaborated with False Alarm and Hammerbrain. In 2006, he established a recording studio in Piermont, New York.
Alongside Dee Dee Ramone, he also created a series of paintings exhibited globally. In 2002, the LP Youth Gone Mad featuring Dee Dee Ramone was released by the independent label trend is dead! records, featuring music by Kostabi and Dee Dee.
He is notably credited with naming the iconic painting Use Your Illusion by his brother Mark Kostabi—a work that later became the title for Guns N’ Roses’ legendary albums Use Your Illusion I & II.
Paul Kostabi’s artworks are held in numerous major public collections, including:
– Guggenheim Museum, New York
– Paterson Museum, New Jersey
– New England Museum of Art, Brooklyn, Connecticut
– Millennium Museum
– Whitney Museum of American Art (Video, Paper Tiger Sessions)
– Museion Museum, Bozen
– Kingston Pop Museum, New York
– MACRO, Rome
His work has also been featured in Architectural Digest (2016). In 2015, he created the whimsical character #SPRKL (both as painting and sculpture), which was added to the Pokémon GO game in 2016.
Kostabi continues to collaborate with other renowned artists, including his brother Mark Kostabi, Tony Esposito, Giuseppe Fortunato, LA II (Little Angel Ortiz), and Franco Fortunato.
He is represented by the Follin Gallery in New York, and his works are featured in numerous significant galleries across Europe and Italy.
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