Monday, July 18, 2011

Featured Artist Interview.

Adrian Delgado: The Visual Poet




So first things first... Where do you hail from & if different where are you located now?

I'm from South San Francisco California. I'm about 15 minutes away from beautiful San Francisco. Ive been living in the Bay Area all my life.


Did you study art academically & if so where? If not how long would you say art has been a serious passion for you? Tell us a little about your early days as an artist. 


I was about age six and remember visiting a museum in the city and seeing a Van Gogh painting. I wanted to touch the layers of paint. It was my first moment of clarity. I thought it was amazing that a grown up created it. I wanted to grow up and be an artist. I spent years in elementary school drawing for countless hours throughout the day and fantasizing about my dream of becoming an artist one day. Elementary school was especially difficult for me because I was placed in special education classes, and I was consequently bullied and humiliated by my peers. Ironically, the rough edges of social life, however, filled my heart with passion and carved a talent for my powerful gift for art. My childhood can be depicted in many of my paintings and they cast a powerful emotional message to my viewers.
Life for me began to take its turn in High School. Finally freed from special classes, I was able to make new friends and began to artistically observe a new social life. It was in high school where I took my first classes in art and began to explore and deepen my journey to become an artist; what was once a dream was slowly becoming a reality. On the eve of graduating high school, I made one of the hardest decision and commitment of my life – to pursue a career and life of art. Nothing and no one could possibly hold me back.
Soon after high school, I picked up a small job at a local grocery store and began my journey in community college. When my past began to haunt me, I cleansed my thoughts with the pouring of alcohol and I began to hide beneath the bottles of liquor. After years of booze and a few waist sizes later, I was hit with another moment of clarity – and it hit me hard, like a brick to the face. From that painful but enlightening moment on, I began to change my life around and manifest my gift – art. My free time was filled with tubes of paint and new art experiments. I spent My summers traveling to Mexico and translating my observations into work of art. I had a few of my paintings and other works of art held in small art galleries, but they did not seem to get the attention me and my admirers believed they deserved. Today, I am an artist. But the truth is I have always been one.

What medium (graphic design on computer/paint/pencil, etc...) do you work in? 

I have always thought a great way to be a great artist is to experiment with different mediums. I do consider myself to be self tough. I have learned ceramics, sculpture, sowing, drywall, tile. My main focus right now is mosaics and oils, but I try to combine all I have learned and create something that shows my wide range of imagination.

For those seeing your work for the first time, how would you introduce your art? What genre does it generally fall into? Are there any overarching themes that you would say are prevalent? 

It's a very aggressive style of art. I tend to embrace the imperfections in life. I know it's our imperfections that make us beautiful. I capture the balance in life. I call the style drunkality. When I was an alcoholic I taught my self how to paint with this emotional powerful style that even now that I control my drinking I'm still able to paint with such anger and happiness somehow mixed together. The themes seem to come from, experiences, dreams, poetry, writings, and everything around me. Its main focus is on color and texture.

What artist or art are you most inspired by? Where else do you get your ideas from?


My inspiration stems from the beauty that embodies the world. The natural art of the world is just one of my inspirations; Im also inspired from the art of the post-impressionists, the surrealists, the baroque, and the classicalists. A few of his favorite artists are Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali, and Vincent Van Gogh. I call my art poetry, and I believe I am a window-maker to enable viewers to see the reality we all typically and effortlessly dismiss. My favorite artist is Jose Guadalupe Posada.

What single piece of art equipment can you not do without? (pen, pencil, charcoal, etc), and why?


My single piece of art equipment I cant do without is my soul. I feel my soul is what does the work for me.
My website is currently under construction. I find the hardest question to be "how much?" if hugs could buy paint that's all I would charge. Pictures never seem to capture the pure color and the texture. My work seems to look more amazing in person, and because of this I love to sell them at shows, but I'm always happy to help admires any way possible to buy prints or whatever. i usually post my shows on Facebook under "Adrian Delgado thevisualpoet". to find me and work visit:

Which of your works is your personal favorite? And why? What can you tell us about it? 
The truth is I don't like my work.....I extremely love the process of making my work. there is something that completely relaxes me and keeps me balanced threw the process. it's a natural high, and a way to freeze what is running wild in my mind. i constantly take pictures to some how remind myself of what i did threw this time of unconsciousness. One of my favorite works is called "elgin" Dedicated to my cousin's friend who died. We are all flowers some of us never seem to bloom. Elgin died at a young age when he was starting to bloom. He was unique and loved all who surrounded him. He was a student studying music, and had dreams to produce music but his life was cut short in a car crash. Rest in peace brother, this painting is for you.

 
If you had to pick out one thing - What difficulty have you overcome as an artist & what would you say to other artists going through similar? 

One thing I can say is that the only person that can hold you back is yourself. I like to think that everyone in the world is a flower. Some of us never seem to bloom. Some of us bloom then die without ever being seen. Make sure to bloom in life and don't be afraid to show your colors. Everything I do in life is to improve my mind body and soul.

Is there anything else you would like people to know about you?
Meshcollective!!!! we're a group of artist who are passionate and extremely talented about art, that include music photography all forms of art. We show our work anywhere except money hungry galleries. were going to be expanding soon and changing the way people see art.



In addition to the urls provided for Adrian above you can also catch up with him & the rest of the MESH collective crew at their newly created Facebook page: MESHcollective  As well as at these other sparkly new internet places:





Note from Lace9:
Since I first discovered Adrian's stunning work on his Facebook page & he kindly agreed to do this interview for me, he has started a zazzle store of his own. Meaning you can now buy his fantastic works on Zazzles fantastic products!
Whether you're a fellow zazzler or simply a fan of great art, I urge you to stop by & let him know how fantastic his work is with some encouraging words on his wall or by joining his fan club.


Show Adrian Delgado some love. Visit his new zazzle store:thevisualpoet 
Posted by lace9 at 5:45 PM
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