Who Is WhIsBe?

Contemporary artist WhIsBe has established a formidable reputation in both the renegade world of street art and the mainstream art world, encompassing museums, galleries, and large-scale public installations. His moniker, shorthand for “What Is Beauty,” is at once innocuous and sweet while introducing more substantive themes of cultural examination and subversion that underpin much of his body of work.

WhIsBe attended New York’s School of Visual Arts; however, the techniques he employs are largely self-taught. Inspired by Andy Warhol’s ingenious use of commercial imagery and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s disruption of public space, WhIsBe sought to share his message with a broad spectrum of people, not only those with access to museums and galleries, and began installing self-sanctioned work on the streets in 2011. Since then, he has continued to produce work that sparks thoughtful dialogue and nuanced socio-awareness. Using a subversive formula of colliding seemingly innocent images with meaningful messages, WhIsBe’s subtle alterations to known designs irrevocably disrupt their meaning.

In his iconic Vandal Gummy series, the beloved sugary treat is placed against a prison mugshot backdrop, gripping an identity placard between its gelatin paws. This juxtaposition between the nostalgic and the sinister has become a hallmark of WhIsBe’s body of work—in presenting attractive images that viewers initially feel safe absorbing, WhIsBe cleverly and strategically encourages them to examine their own critique of problematic institutions.

WhIsBe has partnered with a wide range of charities and corporations, including the Art Works Charity Foundation, charity: water, Red Bull, Playboy, and COACH. He has exhibited work at notable international events, including Art Basel, Art Miami, Art Central Hong Kong, Art Southampton, and many other art fairs around the world. In 2016, he collaborated with the New Museum in New York City to create a large-scale installation of three-dimensional, polychrome Vandal Gummies, along with a series of limited-edition works.

In 2017, publications including Business Insider, VICE on HBO, and Forbes featured the artist, and the Moco Museum in Amsterdam acquired a seven-foot-tall Vandal Gummy sculpture. That same year, WhIsBe was invited among select contemporaries to create work for the 69th floor of 4 World Trade Center and was commissioned to install a seven-foot Vandal Gummy sculpture as the building’s lobby centerpiece. This project ultimately led to a commission from the Hong Kong government and tourism board to create a 25-foot Vandal Gummy Dino sculpture in front of the historic Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower along the historical city’s waterfront.

In 2024, WhIsBe extended his Vandal Gummy concept into a more commercial venture, launching a line of Vandal Gummy Bear candies. This initiative bridges his art with confectionery, continuing his commitment to challenging perceptions and engaging audiences in unexpected ways.

In 2025, WhIsBe unveiled Rewind at the World Trade Center Oculus, a yearlong public installation on view from November 2025 through November 2026 that reflects on nostalgia, scale, and the passage of time within one of New York City’s most symbolically charged public spaces.