Image via Complex Original
You may know Bay Area-raised, NYC-based artist, SLVSTR, from seeing his character, Sly©—a blue panther cub often illustrated among thunderclouds (which SLVSTR calls “Wonderful Place"). Though casual viewers of his art may notice stylistic references to the work of George Condo and Takashi Murakami, SLVSTR also draws inspiration from his personal life: watching cartoons when he was young, the history of his hometown, his appreciation for music, and his journey to New York City.
In his most recent exhibition at White Box NYC Gallery, titled "In Search of a Wonderful Place," SLVSTR created a show embodying the search for his true visual voice. To us, it looks like he's found it. Get to know SLVSTR as he explains his own work below.
3 Evils
“In my life, certain things—the evils, I like to call them—are always at my heels trying to distract me or change me. I'm a pretty religious person, so I try to keep my faith high and stay prayed up. The three evils that the red characters below represent (L to R) are lust, greed, and envy. My muse, Sly, who in some of my works acts as a representation of myself, is jumping over the evils. Above Sly, there's a cross over his head, which represents him being touched by God. In the clouds there is also a cross, which represents Sly being closer to the heavens.”
Angel and the Cross
“I'm pretty obsessed with angels. They're mysterious, they have wings, and I've always hoped I have a guardian angel looking after me. This is a representation of Sly as an angel holding a small wooden cross.”
Blood on the Hands of the Boys in Blue
“This piece is one of the most important out of all of them. We live in a time when lives are being taken by the police. OSCAR GRANT, MICHAEL BROWN, ERIC GARNER, ANDY LOPEZ, and MIRIAM CAREY, just to name a few. As a visual artist of our time and generation, we must bring to light all things that affect the people of today. You see the five officers in this piece grinning, smiling, and snickering at the viewer. No matter how big their smiles are, the red in their eyes reveals the horrific reality of the acts they commit today. The gloves they wear are draped in red, which represents the blood of our fallen youth.”
Dr. Kings Dream Come True
“As a kid, Hey Arnold was a cartoon I would watch faithfully. I felt it was more than relevant to base a piece off of the show. It also brings light to how far we've come in history. I wasn't born into a world where segregation is a headlining issue, but being able to live in a time when, two characters, one white and one black, have one of the coolest friendships of our generation, it felt only right to paint them. Older generations who know nothing about Hey Arnold will be able to immediately connect after reading the title. This was my way of connecting the young and old, as well as paying tribute to the creators of Hey Arnold and the late, great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Hey Marge
“Artists have made their renditions of the famous Simpsons cartoon before. Earlier this year, I did a commission piece for a friend using Bart and Homer. I've seen a few people do a lot of pieces with Marge. Marge was a cool-ass mom, and I'm a pretty big momma's boy. You could say this was me paying tribute to my mother and all the other dope moms out there.”
New Sly
“For me this was just a new representation of my character, Sly. As I change and grow as an artist, Sly will, too.”
Night In Brooklyn
“Night in Brooklyn represents exactly what the title says. This piece depicts people of different color and ethnicities partying and raging in the bar and club scenes in Brooklyn.”
Playing in the Shadows
“Playing in the Shadows was more of me playing with black from a visual standpoint. All my pieces usually involve a lot of color. This was the only painting in the entire show that I used only with the shade of black.”
Red in April
“This was the last painting I made for the show. I painted this piece a week and a half before the show. The show was right around the corner, and from the way I felt at the time, I made a cheerful abstraction of Sly. During the process of figuring out what color I was going to paint the background, I thought to myself what color represented April. Red is what I felt and what came to mind.”
Running Cross
“In a sense I feel like our generation is almost running from religion. I don't know too many young people who consistently pray or who even pray at all. This shows the cross running to the youth with watchful eyes speeding behind it, so that they can help keep an eye on us all.”
Sly
“As an artist, my style and taste matures as I get older. This is a representation of Sly when I first created him. Even though the show embodies more mature works, I felt that it was only right to still include a younger version of Sly. It's almost a way to remind me of where I've come from and how far I've come.”
Watch Where You Step
“I feel like the saying 'Watch your step' has always stuck with me. In all walks of life, you still have to watch where you step. This piece shows Sly with eyes literally on the bottom of his back foot. I'm being very literal with this piece, but I feel like that's what makes it good. Sometimes being literal can be cool, as long as you do it in the right way.”