JUSTKIDS, led by curator Charlotte Dutoit, continues its mission and collaboration with local non profit 64.6 Downtown to bring high quality contemporary art to Arkansas. This time guest artist UK Artist D*Face created a large-scale mural and a massive public sculpture made of five 40 foot long wooden arrows that each weigh more than 1,000 pounds located downtown Fort Smith.
About the Mural and Installation
With a simple and clever union of an arrow and a paintbrush, D*Face’s mural confronts the past and propels into the future by hitting the bull in the eye and the bad lands in the heart.
Inspired by the Native American Trail of Tears, his mural “War Paint” revives the sordid past that once took place here in Arkansas and aims it to a new direction. This glorious mural is not only symbolic, but historical and relives the unjust struggle the Native Americans experienced during the removal.
“Its like a two part mural/installation. The idea is to connect a wall to something sculptural. Which I have never done before and I am quite excited about it” explained D*Face while working on site.
About The Artist
D*Face a.k.a. Dean Stockton, is an English street artist. He grew up in London and had a childhood interest in graffiti. He credits this to Henry Chalfant‘s coverage of subway graffiti in New York City in Spraycan Art and Subway Art, later as a teenager skateboarding and in particular Thrasher magazine’s coverage of skateboard deck graphics led his interest in stickers and the DIY mentality associated with skate and punk fanzines. He attended an illustration and design course and worked as a freelance illustrator/designer whilst honing his street work.
He held his first major London solo exhibition, Death & Glory, at the Stolenspace gallery, which sold out in October 2006. Since then, his exhibitions have included a solo show, Eyecons, at O Contemporary in Brighton in March 2007, again a sell out show.
He also collaborated with Christina Aguilera, on her album cover of Bionic. In October 2013 D*Face took part in Art Wars at the Saatchi Gallery curated by Ben Moore. D*Face’s did the cover art for the Blink-182 album California, which was released on July 1st, 2016.
source: Wikipedia
About JUSTKIDS
JUSTKIDS is a dynamic interface that conceives, produces and promotes comprehensive art projects on an international scale with some of the most engaging artists, curators and strategic consultants. Founded in 2014 JUSTKIDS supports a diverse team of inspirational pros and upcoming talents to meet the demands of a constantly evolving audience, delivering public Art, gallery shows, artist residencies programs and brand consulting, offering new experiences with top tier visual artists. JUSTKIDS is the creator and producer of some of most innovative large scale art events and the consultant for some of the leading art institutions and lifestyle brands.
Stay connected with JUSTKIDS on Instagram and Facebook and visit justkidsofficial.com for more information.
About 64.6 DOWNTOWN
64.6 Downtown is an organization committed to the revitalization of downtown Fort Smith, focusing on quality of place to ensure future community and economic growth.
For more information visit www.646downtown.com.
Photos Zane Cash and Raymesh Cintron
