Check out Dezmond Crockett ‘s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dezmond Crockett.

Dezmond, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I’m an LA native who always been drawn to visual arts. Not unlike many millennials, the thing that first sparked my interest in art was anime, Dragonball Z in particular. I treated my art as a hobby until I was invited to an art community called Pieces after dropping out of college where I would be pushed by my mentor, Lalo Marquez, to step out of my comfort zone and develop my skills further.

Soon after joining I met my muse who gave me a sense of purpose to fulfill by challenging me and helping me to understand what love is. So I’ve dedicated the last 3 years of my life to series of paintings intended to create a dialogue between my personal experience with a muse and love as it relates to my generation in the digital era. But most importantly it’s my way of paying homage to her for helping me grow as a person and become the person is meant to be.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I’m most commonly a portrait artist so I like to paint faces. It resonates with me because a persons face tends to encapsulate the essence of a persons being so it makes me feel like my work carries weight and something immediately understood. As of the last 3 years I’ve been working on a series called Muse 21 in which I paint 20 muses from Instagram whom I’ve never met based on the way they present themselves online and the impression I get from that, and then my one true muse who I’ve known and seen grow throughout my journey.

All the paintings are done in acrylic and spray paint on 48×48” canvases, some of which I’ve stretched myself. I wanted the pieces to feel larger than the life they see on their phone screens so it would make them stop and wonder who these people really were. I wanted to inspire a questioning about the social dynamics of our increasingly digital times as it compared to the seemingly fading wonder of chance encounters that feel serendipitous and organic relationships. I wanted to showcase the magic that people can’t find on the internet.

Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
The role of the artist has always been to reflect the times we live in and I don’t think that will ever change in the broadest sense. I like to keep my inspiration and influence local at this time where I can make a commentary on things from a point of experience instead of speculation. Less about the specific events and more about the reoccurring themes through the lens of our time. Its all connected.

Even if an event doesn’t directly affect me it may affect someone close to me and when the dynamics of my relationships change by the influence of those events it inadvertently has an effect on my art.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My Instagram is my primary means of sharing art at this time but I’m having my first solo exhibition for the series on September 14, 2018, in Venice California. The details of its location and more will be updated on my page in the days closer to the show.

Work will be available for purchase as well as accepted donations for our non-profit Pieces who has been the foundation for getting my career in art where it is now.

Contact Info:

• Address: 5901 S Mansfield, Los Angeles, California, 90043
• Website: https://www.dezmundo.gallery/
• Phone: 323-482-7579
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_dezmundo_
• Other: https://www.piecesarts.org/

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