Stephen Kasner

Stephen Kasner (April 3, 1970 – December 25, 2019) was an American multidisciplinary artiste from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Primarily a painter and illustrator but as a consequence a musician, photographer, graphic artist, occultist and magician; Kasner was mainly known through his cover artwork designs for bands such as Rotting Christ, Decrepit, Sunn O))), Integrity, Marduk, & Pulling Teeth along with many others.

His paintings have been exhibited everything over the world and are noted for their sinister (sometimes satanic) themes and otherworldly aesthetic; influencing a new wave of artists in the dark arts. His artwork, drawings and photographs usually reflect visions of a pre/post-apocalyptic industrial landscape and the suffer for leftover contained in dreams of enlightenment.

Besides committed in paint, photography, and drawings Stephen Kasner moreover created experimental music under the state Blood Fountains, where he performed on guitars, bass, and keyboards.

He did album artwork for Khlyst, Sunn O))), Integrity, Lotus Eaters, Skullflower, Justin Broadrick, Subarachnoid Space and Martin Grech, among many others.

Kasner released the book Stephen Kasner Works: 1993 – 2006 (Scapegoat Publishing, 2007), a lavish career retrospective gone text by various artistic luminaries and collaborations later than Seldon Hunt, David D'Andrea, Dwid Hellion, Steven Leyba, and Steven Cerio.

Stephen Kasner died on December 25, 2019. His longtime friend and fellow Cleveland native, Dwid, from the band Integrity (for which Kasner had provided artwork) posted through Twitter in homage: "Stephen Kasner was my friend. He will be extremely missed. I hope that his artwork will remind us of his angst-ridden brilliance and haunted vision. May his death support as a stark reminder of how fragile we can be. To those of you who may be struggling out there, who might environment alone. You are not alone. Stay strong."