DARIUS X MORENO on BOYMEETSSTYLE.com
Earlier this month (Aug. 4), BoyMeetsStyle.com contributing editor, Georgio Richy, and many of New York City’s most stylish art and fashion lovers, got the chance to view the latest works of artist, DARIUS X MORENO. (left)
The event, a pop-up on the Lower East Side at Chinatown Soup, featured a mix of oil paintings, illustrations and figures of "impulsive decisions leading to cruel reality", all together titled Declining Images
The show came off the heels of Darius’ recent debut as the cultivator of an animated-short for musician GoldLink, which premiered on the main stage at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival earlier this year.
As avid fans of artists who defy the norm of what’s hot; we, alongside Georgio Richy, were excited to hear from Darius himself, and get the skinny on everything from the creative process, his inspiration, and the future.
GR: So tell me what process went into creating these pieces?
DXM: I have to find my inspiration first. I get inspired by men, mostly. Women and men. But for this I was looking at models. I would also look at someone's face, when I really like the structure of their chin or something. I used to draw portraits of people, take their features and mix it up with other people's features. That's my process, I find my inspiration and just start a portrait, then let it sit for a few hours and come back to it later.
GR: How would you describe your art?
DXM: My work is Ghetto-fabulous. I don't wanna be cliche, but it’s also powerful and kind of fluid. When I say fluid, I mean in the way of the strokes. I never really draw anything, I just do strokes and see how that comes out. There’s fluidity in the colors and fluidity in the people because, again, I like to use different features from men and women so it can feel like almost any gender. I want people to look at my work and not know if they're looking at a man or woman, and be attracted to it.
GR: Is there any artist or artists you aspire to be like?
DXM: There's no artist I aspire to be like. I appreciate all black artists. I recently saw this artist, her name was Linda (I don't know her last name), it was in The New Museum, her work was great. There’s actually a wide selection of black artists, but there isn't actually a wide selection of known black artists. But really, I don't wanna be like anyone else. I want my work to be mine.
GR: You premiered something special at this year's Coachella, tell me more about that.
DXM: I did the cover art for the rapper, GoldLink; as well as his music video "Meditation". He really liked what I did and asked me to come back and create an animated-short for his Coachella set. It was a 20 minute clip, with different scenes for each song. I wanted to make sure it was cool because Coachella has a crazy vibe. Unfortunately I couldn't make it because of school, but I watched the live stream.
GR: BoyMeetsStyle.com’s all about men’s fashion. How would you describe your personal style?
DXM: I don't know, people tell me I dress really 90's. I've always been into baggy clothing. But this summer I've been trying to own my sexuality more - wearing crop-tops and stuff.
GR: What's next for Darius X Moreno?
DXM: In the next few months I'm doing some more shows. Not a pop-up show, I wanna have a show that's up for a while. I also wanna teach myself more animation skills, I plan on making another animated-short. That's my goal. I want to be able to tell a story through different types of mediums.
GR: 50 years from now, what do you hope your pieces will say to the world?
DXM: I hope my work is always nostalgic to people. I want someone to look at my art and relate that to something from their past, or a person, or an experience. Especially black people. I want black people to look at my work and get the feeling they get when they see a "Good Times" re-run or "The Sugar Shack" by Ernie Barnes. I want people to be able to recognize my work and feel something.
Images via Instagram & Courtesy of Just Tea Consulting
