Jason Yates
Jason Yates (born 1972 in Detroit, Michigan) is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Education Yates got his BFA from the University of Michigan in 1995 and his MFA from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA in 2000. Early career / Fast Friends Inc. Yates's early work in the late 1990s to the mid 2000s, was typified by a collaborative ethos and bridging the gap between various genres, namely art, music, fashion and design. Raised in Detroit and while still in his teens, Yates became a friend and collaborator with funk/jazz/ fusion musician George Clinton. Speaking about Clinton and the musician's influence on his own practice, Yates says "I always thought of Clinton not as a musician but as a total artist. As much as the art world endeavours to branch out, it's still very specialized. To Clinton, making art was part of his normal trajectory. He was an artist-musician. And I always saw art as being a component of a lot of different movements and incredibly dependent on a group dynamic." This way of thinking was a formative influence on his Yates' practice. After moving to Los Angeles to study with Mike Kelley,