Krink
Artist
Biography
Craig Costello a.k.a. “Krink” or “KR”, is one of the most visionary and inspirational street artists working today, and is also the creator of KRINK, a line of the finest quality handmade inks and markers, beloved by artists and vandals alike.
To tell the story of Krink, the world’s quickest growing art supply line, you need to hear the story of KR: a terrible art student, a semi-successful vandal, and an entrepreneur who learned everything the hard way. KR grew up in Queens in the ‘80s surrounded by graffiti writers, skaters, punks and B-boys. In the early ‘90s KR moved to San Francisco. Most writing took place in parking lots and specified spots. But ignoring designated areas, he used the streets of SF as his very own research and development lab, experimenting with a lot of different tools and techniques to create bigger, drippy marker tags. He also began making his own inks, allowing him to get up bigger, bolder and, now armed with an endless supply of ink. From these trials and errors, KR’s ink, or Krink, was created. He shared his concoction with a few friends and soon its silver markings dominated the city.
In 1998, KR returned to NY and brought Krink back with him. Before long, it's signature style was covering the streets of NY as well. The Alife store had just opened and was quickly becoming a Mecca for street art. They told KR that if he would bottle and sell Krink, people would buy it and they offered to help: it was more of a creative project, something to work on collaboratively. People liked it and it just kept growing from there. Fast-forward to today and Krink products are shipping daily from Brooklyn to everywhere from CA to Moscow to Bangkok. The product line has grown to offer a number of different markers and inks that are unique to the market in their style, history and quality.
And when the collaboration feels right, Krink continues to create limited-edition products with like-minded companies like Coach, Moncler, Nike, Marc Jacobs, Standard, Tom Sachs, Absolut, Incase and Kidrobot. The trademark paint drip aesthetic has found its way into art and design becoming a standard for street-inspired artists on a global level and it’s been 15 years. Watch closely over the next 15 as Krink continues to build its name as the premier art supply line for a new generation of artists.
