Greg Beebe - When Art and Life Knows No Separation
Bienvenidos Addictees!
Say a big e-hi to our newest Addicted artist, Greg Beebe. Straight outta Miami where “everyday like a mardi gras, everybody party all day” – at least according to Will Smith – Greg is a self-taught, mixed media artist who describes his work as “a mixture of abstract expressionism, pop and graffiti street art”.
With artwork featuring Playboy models to Einstein, the general theme that infuses his work is one of positivity where the specific message, elements and composition in each piece is fresh and handled differently each time.
"Positive or energetic messaging is my key focus. I want to create artwork from a personal feeling of motivation or positivity. For example, seeing people work hard or working hard myself and achieving something is gratifying to me, so I want to create a piece of artwork that might give the viewer a piece of what I’m feeling.”
He achieves this through a mixed media style comprising multiple layers of pop culture imagery, graffiti, collage, photography and resin.
As Einstein would say, “imagination is more important than knowledge”, so let's check out just where Greg's imagination has taken him...
You A Star
Arty-Fact: 'You A Star' celebrates Marilyn Monroe's natural star power delivered in a pop/grafitti-esque style. Set on a backdrop of Rolling Stone magazine covers, the work also celebrates the star power of numerous other celebrities. Motivation is the message.
Be First
Arty-Fact: 'Be First' praises and celebrates Darine Stern (the first African American woman to pose on the cover of Playboy magazine alone) – and her originality, drive and ambition to follow her passion even though the general public may not have agreed with it.
Playboy No. 1
Arty-Fact: For 60 years Playboy has “been proudly raising eyebrows, changing history and innovating style”. The Rabbit Head Logo, is one of the top 20 brands in the world and Playboy No. 1 celebrates this success with a backdrop of historical Playboy magazine covers.
NYC Lunchin'
Arty-Fact: Inspired by Charles C. Ebbets 'Lunch Atop A Skyscraper', 1932, NYC Lunchin pays homage to New York City.
Sunny Days
Arty-Fact: Sunny Days celebrates the energy, colour and culture of Cuba.
Think Punk
Arty-Fact: A multi-layered image of Albert Einstein with the base layer representing the crazy, out of the box thinker; and the top layer, the plain black and white personality - all set against a backdrop of street posters from Wynwood, Miami.
Dreamer II
Arty-Fact: This piece calls to light the level of intensity, drive and motivation one must have to completely follow a dream. With so many self or societally imposed walls and obstacles, rights and wrongs, one must be a superhero to rip past everything and follow a dream. Anarchy signs are shown throughout the piece particularly in the Superman "S" furthering the point that one must ignore the "taught" and think independently and outside the norm to achieve a dream.
Blood, Sugar, Sex Magik
Arty-Fact: This work is inspired by the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" album. The infamous Betty Boop is wearing the vintage Mickey Mouse sorcerer hat ("Sex" and "Magik"), with a background of various quotes by Betty Boop and others. In addition, Betty Boop stands next to a bloodied skull ("Blood") which indicates she's been on a hunt - the cash surrounding the skull indicating exactly what she was hunting. The base of this piece is made from actual sugar packets collected from various locations throughout Europe ("Sugar”).
If you'd like more info, give us a shout at:
blair@addictedgallery.com or elena@addictedgallery.com
Hugh Hefner was known to “...have about 100 pairs of pajamas. I like to see people dressed comfortably.” If you want to try out Greg’s art on your walls without getting out of your comfy pjs, just download our magic app and enjoy the wonder of augmented reality in your crib.
Until the next one...
Uh, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, uh,
Miami, uh, uh,
South Beach, bringin the heat, uh,
Haha, can y'all feel that,
Can y'all feel that,
Jig it out, uh.
Blair and El xoxo
- jigging it out
PS: If you don't recognise the name Will Smith and/or have a burning desire to know where "jigging it out" comes from, click below: