Josh DeSmit is an artist caught between two worlds. He grew up a cidiot (city+idiot) in the Minneapolis area, but was blessed with the retreat of his family’s U.P. cabin. In the northerly, Michigan woods he learned to fish brook trout, hunt ducks and grouse, and be less inclined to play fantasy football during precious fall weekends. While studying art and playing hockey at Wisconsin’s Lawrence University, Josh’s appreciation for the outdoors became an obsession and remains today.
Between class and trips to the stream Josh would putter, late night, around the LU art building. He explored the possibilities of spray paint in attempts to emulate the graffiti aesthetiche remembered from summer days spent skateboarding the backcountry of downtown Minneapolis. When Josh began to combine his experiences afield with the wilds of a rattle can, his style began to emerge. Since graduating, and returning to Minnesota, his work has gained boldness in color as well as a nervous energy reflective of a crowded metro area, an ever-churning American society, and desperation for moments of escape. Josh continues to use spray paint in most of his pieces and couples the medium with paint pens, acrylics, sharpies, printmaking techniques and anything else that might look appropriate on a given day. Juxtaposing blocks of stenciled Krylon and definitive line with the natural beauty of fly fishing, Josh has developed a process and style truly unique to the realm of sporting art. To see more of Josh DeSmit’s work, visit his web site joshdesmitart.com, or on Instagram and Facebook @joshdesmitart.
Primary Medium: Spray Paint/ Mixed
Phone: 763-639-5123
Email: [email protected]
Mailing Address: 7717 46th Ave. N., New Hope, MN 55428
Website: joshdesmitart.com
