Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Densmore.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
So art has been my life since I was a little lad, growing up in the Inland Empire’s crown jewel, Hemet California. I was an extremely shy kid, so art connected me to other people and allowed me to have a social life. Once I got to high school, I had to start thinking about how art could be a career, which never seemed to be plausible growing up in a small town.
Luckily out of high school, I fell into a job at a small screen printing company in which the owner-operator was a fine artist himself. It showed me that I could use screen printing as a way to pay the bills, but also have an art aspect to it as well. I’ve been a screen printer for over 20 plus years now and a “fine artist” for a little less than that, showing my artwork in galleries since the early 2000’s. I wasn’t sure how the art I wanted to create would fit into the “art world” past what little I saw on skateboard decks from the 80’s, Mad magazine, etc. until I found the Lowbrow art movement. Juxtapoz Magazine was my bible. It was my guide to find all the Los Angeles art galleries that showed the art that spoke to me. La Luz De Jesus (Wacko), Corey Helford gallery and the one that gave me my break, Copro/Nason Gallery in Culver City (now Copro Gallery, Santa Monica) Doug Nason took a chance and put me in a few of their group shows in the early 2000’s.
Which looking back is crazy since I was fairly young and underdeveloped as an artist showing works next to Idols like Robert Williams, Dave Burke, Shag and Shepard Fairey to just name a few. I wasn’t seasoned enough to showing my work with my art heroes, but it gave me connections with these great artists and people who helped perpetuate the Lowbrow art scene. So after that, I moved to working with smaller galleries which seemed more appropriate to grow into the artist I wanted to be. I found Hyaena Gallery (Burbank) in the late 2000’s and ultimately did three solo exhibitions and 3 or 4 co-curated group shows there, thanks to the owner, Bill Shafer. I now have a nice little group of galleries I work within the LA area and abroad, along with doing commission work from time to time and maintaining my screen printing career at California T’s screen printing.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I think luck always is a factor with where you land in life. You can have all the talent in the world, but need to realize that luck has a greater role in life than we’d like to give it credit for. If my dad hadn’t worked for the phone company, he wouldn’t of installed the phone at the small screen print shop and found out that they were looking to hire a kid out of high school to help around the shop, and therefore never would’ve thought of screen printing as a way to facilitate my art. We all have an idea of what we’d like to see ourselves doing when we’re young, but I think for the most part life ends up taking you on different paths that you never would’ve considered.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Well, you can find my art under my artist name, The Creep. I currently have artwork at Hyaena Gallery (Burbank), The Bearded Lady’s Mystic Museum (Burbank) & The Dark Art Emporium (Long Beach) along with a mural inside The 4th Horseman pizza & beer joint in Long Beach. Find me on social media under The Creep or Art By The Creep or at my site, creep-art.com.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
As aforementioned, Doug Nason gave me my first break in the art world. Bill Shafer at Hyaena gave me many opportunities to showcase my talent thru his gallery. Jeremy Schott/Jeremy Cross at The Dark Art Emporium and Kiko & Erick at Bearded Lady’s Mystic Museum for continuing to give me a chance to do what I do. I’m lucky, cause I’ve always had a supportive family and a very supportive wife (Love you Keri!)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.creep-art.com
- Instagram: artbythecreep
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/artbythecreep
Image Credit:
Liz Huston photographer (main pic of me holding the palette & brush)
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