ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: JANUARY 2023

 As we bid 2022 farewell and welcome in the new year, our spirits are  revitalized with the possibilities that a new year brings. Riverside  Artswalk welcomed the new year with a significant change –the move and  expansion of the beloved Artist Vendors Lot to the Main Street  Pedestrian Mall. Artists on Main will now help to frame the downtown  area during the event, connecting the many galleries and museums located  near Main Street. The timing could not have worked out better. The  Artist Spotlight for January, Deladeso, is currently on display around  the corner from Artists on Main at Pain Sugar Gallery.  During his 2-month exhibition, Deladeso has many workshops and events  planned to bring in the community and share his talents.But who is  Deladeso? Deladeso is the art persona created by Richie Velazquez. Based  out of Riverside California, he has been developing his Digital Death  and Grime art aesthetic since 2012. Deladeso refers to himself as a  product of the internet and has utilized this influence in his artwork.  Although he did not consider himself an artist or put his energy into  pursuing a career in the field, his experiences led him down the path.  Taking inspiration from some of the popular culture that he grew up  with, slime culture in particular, Deladeso inadvertently became the  originator of grime art. He began taking existing and trending images  and recreating the image with the addition of a dripping slime  texture.The style took off and launched a cult following of artists that  began to create artwork in the Grime style. Although he has continued  to create Grime artwork for such a long time, it is not his only style.  His current exhibition showcases an installation including video  creations, toys made of his artwork, paint, and found objects. Deladeso  is inspired to create artwork when he comes up with an idea or finds  something funny or interesting. To keep his ideas handy, he writes or  sketches the rough idea in his journal. Sometimes his inspiration and  ideas come out of nowhere and journaling helps him to catch it for  immediate of future projects. He also looks at his artworks as an  extension of the notes or ideas, and often finds that his artworks are  never complete although they are sufficient to hang on a wall. As a  full-time artist, creating artwork does it all for Deladeso. It helps  him to know where his head is at, and his notes help him to schedule out  all the office madness. He believes that most people think he just  tosses stuff up (and sometime he does) but he mostly conceptualizes. He  feels that it is always a brain battle to come up stickers but sometimes  the stickers remind him that “STUFF ES NOT THAT DEEP...” Completing  artworks and hitting deadlines, however, is a very satisfying feeling  for him. Deladeso has been participating in the Riverside arts community  unofficially for about a decade by way of helping friends, volunteering  for events and by donating time and artwork for fliers. The first event  that he participated in locally was the annual Saturation Art &  Music Festival in which he curated local films for a mini film fest as  part of the event.

For more information, visit Deladeso.com or @deladeso on Instagram and Pain Sugar Gallery @pain.sugar.gallery