2 minute read
Acrylic Series: Dmote
DMOTE
video montana-cans.blog/acrylic-series artist Profile IG @dmoterola Photography Jordan Katz / Montana-Cans
↑ Large or small, scale is no issue when transcribing ideas on one substrate or another.
← As »at home« in his studio as he is in the streets, DMOTE hits the black book surrounded by color and ideas.
NEW YORK
It’s been a long time since Australian graffiti artist DMOTE, has actually been based in Australia. It has also been a long time since he was only known as DMOTE. With a bag full of words and brain full of ideas, the title Graffiti Artist is not really enough to encompass the wide array of skills he exercises within his art making practice. The now New York based artists is still as active as he ever was in the creation of traditional letter based graffiti style writing. His graffiti artwork has come a long way through relentless doing, re-inventing and self reflection. But so has his fine artwork. A body of work that is hard to compartmentalize. Hard to put in a little box and call it something that everyone understands. For this reason he was the perfect candidate for the Montana-Cans Acrylic Series.
on our journey with him, it was clear that it would start where it all began. The streets of New York. With a sent of the city and Montana BLACK and Montana GOLD cans a blaze, DMOTE laid down the fundamentals for what was to become a classic graffiti canvas. And this time with the word SHANK. The ACRYLIC markers and ACRYLIC paint refills were out and shaken, at the ready for creating. A full spectrum of colors were used and DMOTE showed no confusion as he grabbed each color instinctually, placing the right color in the right context for a vibrant yet harmonious color scape. With a love of robust round tips, he even turned to the Montana Empty Marker products for various application possibilities. With a refill here and some intricate line work there, we soon saw the style master pull the »SHANK« canvas together. Aerosol faded color, juxtaposed against opaque placements served up accurate linear craftsmanship. Even for the non graffiti initiated, watching DMOTE create is like an enthralling passage of time travel through the origins and future of graffiti style writing. Regardless of which tool he puts in his hands, something impressive always happens.
↗ »New York, New York big city of dreams, but everything in New York ain‘t always what it seems«. For DMOTE, a long way from Australia but home never the less.
→ Anything is possible. Various phases of DMOTE’s artist path composed on paper, cover his studio walls. Mapping out where he has been and possibly where he could go.
→→ SHANK, just one of many alter egos for DMOTE that helped him re-invent himself when arriving in New York, explore new letter possibilities and avoid becoming stagnant.
