Portfolio Review: Graffiti Artist Poesia Shares His Favorite Works

Image via Complex Original

Born and bred in the Bay Area, Poesia got his name writing wild style pieces before refining his abstract and conceptual style. He's a member of the Transcend Collective and a founder of the Graffuturism group. His mix of contemporary graffiti and historic painting aims to spark conversation about the place of street art in art history and the place of graffiti in academia.

This year, Poesia's really impressed us. You need no other proof than that we named him one of the 25 Most Important Artists of 2012 (So Far). Though you should review his Più Forza Di Guidizio show, one of the best art exhibitions we've seen in recent months.

With those credentials granted, we connected with Poesia to discuss his favorite recent works. Dive in and get to know one of the most talented graffiti artists practicing today.

Portfolio Review: Street Artist Poesia Shares His Favorite Works

Raft of Medusa after Gericault, 2012 

"This was one of my favorite paintings painted for my solo exhibition 'More Force than Judgement.' I focused this whole show on my old master series of paintings. I have always been drawn to the original by Gericault. I had painted an earlier version that was more letter based in 2010. I wanted to have a second go at it, this time focusing more on the original composition. It was a perfect palette for me working with bitumen, and being able to deconstruct the composition again was a great challenge."

St. Francis After Caravaggio, 2012 

"This was another piece painted for my solo exhibition this year and a part of the old master series. I really enjoyed how this painting turned out as I was able to use a nice flare for the halo. I am actually about to release a limited edition run of this print of this piece with 1xrun."

“E” Canvas, 2011 

"I painted this as part of a geometric letter based series of works I was working on in 2011. What I like about this painting was that I was able to create some nice movement with straight lines. I also was able to stay true to the letter  used as a guide and build some nice depth with it." 

Untitled Green and Blue, 2012

(Exhibited in Composite Knowledge Group Show)

"This is one of my most recent paintings and is currently being exhibited in San Francisco. This was probably my favorite piece in the show. Working almost completely in oil paint in this new series of gestural abstracts, I was able to build some deep paint textures with this painting. I love working in enamel and acrylic, but the richness of oil paint is unparalleled. In this painting, I was able to utilize both." 

Untitled, 2012

(Exhibited in Composite Knowledge Group Show)

"This is another recent letter-based and gestural painting. This new series of paintings really let me enjoy painting and the feel of paint. Transitioning from the old master paintings to these abstracts might seem like an odd thing to do, but conceptually they are the same, and that's the beauty of working in purely figurative versus purely abstract. These pieces are important in the series as a whole, and time will show this whole dialogue I am working towards."

Sketch on Paper, 2012 

"It's almost forgotten that all these paintings start with a sketch whether it be pencil or charcoal. This is a gestural letter-based sketch and is the foundation to almost all my abstract works." 

Untitled Gestural Wall, 2012

(Painted during Pow Wow Hawaii)

"This was a wall that I painted at Hawaii Pow Wow this year. Sometimes the simple and clear ideas happen the fastest. This piece happened in that manner, yet it has been the inspiration to almost all my new abstract series this year."

Untitled Geometric Wall, 2011

(San Francisco)

"This wall was painted in San Francisco last year thanks to Wallspace. Its hard to dictate what type of wall you are going to paint, sometimes you prepare for something smooth and it has texture or obstacles. Being that I like to use mix media on my pieces the smoother the wall the better. This was my day and a perfect wall paint one of my geometric pieces."

Abraham Teaching Astrology to the Egyptians After Zanchi, 2011  

"This piece was the most well received paintings of 2011 for me. It was another breakthrough for me in the old master series and eventually led to the direction of the new paintings exhibited in 'More force than judgement.'"

Kiss of Judas After Caravaggio, 2010 

"This is an important piece. It was one of those paintings that just happens, yet that influence a couple years of your work. This was painted as part of 'Foundation,' a 2 man show. It was the early stages for me coming back to canvas after almost a decade. I started with the idea of the old master series for this show, and this was my favorite piece from that show. Initially meant to be a study to keep busy while other works were drying, it turned out to be the most important piece of the show."

The Lion Hunt After Rubens, 2010

"This is the largest painting I have done. It's almost 16 feet by 9 feet. Also painted in the original old master series, it was during a more deconstructed phase of the series. The original painting by Rubens is an amazing composition, and I knew upon seeing it that this was figurative wildstyle."

Untitled, 2012

(Exhibited at LA Freewalls Inside)

"This was the first gestural abstract of the year I painted before I went into painting the figurative pieces. It is the reason why my next show was based off renditions of this painting. I hit on something in paintings sometimes, and I know there is something there, digging deeper. This was one of those paintings I couldn't wait to get back to."

Untitled On Paper, 2011

(Exhibited at Walls of Fame)

"This was one of my favorite geometric pieces. I love working with mix media on paper, being able to build from pencil to layers of paint, while still being able to make a nice mark." 

Untitled Brighton Wall, 2011 

"I painted this piece in Brighton UK while visiting Aroe with my crew mate Persue. Working in a more traditional letter-based style, I was able to mix some of my favorite elements in here. It's always good to remember some of the reasons why you started painting in the first place. Being able to head to a wall and just let it flow still does the trick for me."

Untitled Wall San Francisco, 2010 

(San Francisco)

"This was an important piece for me. This was painted in 2010 in a more experimental geometric style and would lead to some other experiments in my style the last 3 years. What was more important about this wall was that I was able to reconnect with my crew mate Joker and also paint with Remi Rough, Kofie, Kema, and Codak. This wall inspired me to create the site graffuturism the next week. It's another example of small things leading to larger things. Action is the most powerful force in nature; without it, you would never know what could be next."