JMikal Davis
JMikal Davis got his start doing artwork for the street in the late 90’s while still in art school in the South. Upon graduating and moving to Brooklyn in 2000, Davis took up the nom de plume Hellbent and began experimenting with various media, associated with the genre. Finding Abstraction largely under represented in the scene he began working extensively in this style and moved away from illegal works to commissioned projects.
JMikal Davis’ works are grounded in the earliest experiments of abstraction and the influence of music on the art form. Much like Kandinsky took his queue from Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring to launch some of the earliest abstract paintings, Davis too is looking at the influence and interpretation of music through visual means. Rhythm and movement drive music like his paintings, and He is harmonizing with color and pattern to achieve balance in the chaos. The works are layered, bright and seem to race across whatever surface he is working on, from canvas to large scale out door murals. Also, heavily influenced by the Washington Color School and West Coast Hard Edge Geometric Abstraction, but putting a contemporary spin on them by using spray paint and other modern …
JMikal Davis got his start doing artwork for the street in the late 90’s while still in art school in the South. Upon graduating and moving to Brooklyn in 2000, Davis took up the nom de plume Hellbent and began experimenting with various media, associated with the genre. Finding Abstraction largely under represented in the scene he began working extensively in this style and moved away from illegal works to commissioned projects.
JMikal Davis’ works are grounded in the earliest experiments of abstraction and the influence of music on the art form. Much like Kandinsky took his queue from Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring to launch some of the earliest abstract paintings, Davis too is looking at the influence and interpretation of music through visual means. Rhythm and movement drive music like his paintings, and He is harmonizing with color and pattern to achieve balance in the chaos. The works are layered, bright and seem to race across whatever surface he is working on, from canvas to large scale out door murals. Also, heavily influenced by the Washington Color School and West Coast Hard Edge Geometric Abstraction, but putting a contemporary spin on them by using spray paint and other modern tools at his disposal. Alan Bamberger of ArtBusiness.com has called him the “urban Rex Ray”.
Courtesy of the Artist
