While we were in Hawaii for Pow Wow we got a chance to spend some time with the talented artist Alex “Defer” Kizu. Defer was in town painting a store installation as well as painting in Pow wow. Defer’s work is not something that can be defined by any one style. Moving from Placasso handstyles, graffiti, fine art, and his use of Japanese Imagery Defer is able to bridge these influences into a strong body of work. Working in layers with repetitive rhythm Defer’s paintings meditate a powerful energy. Growing up in Los Angeles as a youth Defer embraced the native street language of graffiti as key component to his art as he transitioned into fine art. Defer’s work is able to effectively capture the gesture and layers of “Spiritual Language” as the artist calls it in this quote. “My work represents many layers of the human existence brought forth by the many layers of under painting that is exhibited in my work. I also utilize many forms of text – and that pay homage to the graffiti that I was exposed to as a youth growing up in LA. The text is painted in gestural strokes and is expressed as “spiritual language”.” Defer is an artist to watch out for in 2013 and beyond as he establishes himself among his contemporaries. An amazing painter that we expect big things from in the future.
GF
