Luke Chueh

In his recent work, he has designed the album artwork for Fall Out Boy's album Folie à Deux (2008).

Born to Chinese immigrants in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chueh's family relocated to Fresno, California soon after his birth. Taught illustration at a young age, he became obsessed with interpreting the popular culture imagery he was surrounded by. Trained as graphic designer at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, he was hired as an in-house designer & illustrator at the Ernie Ball Company in 1997. His work during this time garnered him several awards as well as features in the 1998 design annuals of both Communication Arts and Print. Developing an addiction to painkillers, Chueh was fired from his job and relocated to Los Angeles without any prospects. He continues to create artwork in Los Angeles with regular updates on Facebook and Instagram. Chueh has been sober since 2010.

Hired by the Ernie Ball Company as an in-house designer & illustrator before receiving his bachelor's degree in 1997, Chueh primarily created T-shirt and advertisement designs for the brand. Several of these became award-winning, with the artist himself being featured in the 1998 design annuals of both Communication Arts and Print. During this time, Chueh began spending his nights partying, drinking, and doing drugs. In 2003, an addiction to painkillers resulted in his being fired, which spurred Chueh's relocation to Los Angeles with no job prospects.

After graduating from Clovis West High School in 1991, the 18-year-old enrolled into the Art & Design program at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Nearing the completion of his degree, one his professors confided in Chueh that he was "a mediocre graphic designer," but explained that he was "a great illustrator" and "should pursue a career in that", despite the fact that Chueh had a graphic design concentration and his "formal" art training was restricted to a "couple quarters of Life Drawing and Illustrations classes".

Luke Chueh (/ˈ tʃ uː / ; born March 7, 1973) is a Chinese-American lowbrow, or pop surrealist, painter. His works tends to be a juxtaposition of the cute with the macabre, including various self-portraits reimagining himself as a bear character.

Luke Chueh was born on March 3, 1973, and he is a first generation Chinese-American, both of his parents having immigrated to the United States from China. When he was three months old, Chueh's family relocated from his birthplace of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Fresno, California. At the age of four, his mother taught him how to draw Mickey Mouse, which began a childhood obsession to paint and illustrate renditions of his favorite things, mainly Star Wars and other "science fiction stuff that I was watching all the time."