The art with no barriers and no conditions of Luna de Jesus Licea

‘Luna de Jesus Licea is not only an extremely talented artist, but a very interesting and articulated personality. He reminds me so much of the artists from the 80s and their approach to art with no barriers and no conditions. Luna considers art his safe place from reality and his possibility to express himself in a way words could never do. Being an artist myself I can deeply understand and appreciate his position and feelings. Art is a trigger to unleash our most deep sensations and unexpressed desires, but even our recondite fears. 

To my eyes it appears clear his appreciation of Pop and street artists, like Jean Michel Basquiat. His mixed media pallet, with oils, acrylics, markers is so dense of symbolism and anthropological subjects. He touches with his brush so many society problems and displays them with extreme courage and no respect, just as a real artist should do. 

Like all free artists he doesn’t find himself comfortable in classifying his style or the artist who influenced him….his statement “At the end of the day my life, my memories, my struggles and  just my day to day thoughts influence and inspire my art” is the best summarization of his talent.  Luna de Jesus Licea has a very bright future in front of him and we hope we can support in his path.’

Carlo Tozzi, st-Art Founder.

Where have you grown up?  

I’ve grown up in multiple places , I was born in Guadalajara Jalisco , Mexico and immigrated to the United States when I was 9 years old , grew up in Las Vegas Nevada till I was in high school then moved north to a small town called Yakima 2 hours from Seattle , after graduating high school i decided to move to Los Ángeles with a couple of friends and that’s where I currently  reside . 

What is your artistic background?

I don’t have a professional artistic background in terms of going to school . I’ve created for as long as I can remember and  learned everything through reading books and watching movies and just my environment and my friends and I pick up everything from music and skateboarding and life around me .  

How would you describe your art style?

I don’t know what my art style would be. I guess  you can define it as neo expressionism or street art or whatever but  I just create and I don’t really think too much about having a specific style. I don’t like getting into specifics . I  get influenced by different eras like the 70s and 80s and influenced by various artists .

What inspires you to produce art?

That’s a hard question to answer because the fact is that I need to produce art to be able to Coexist with myself, I don’t do this for anybody else but me , Painting makes me feel at peace and makes me feel like I’m doing something with my life even though I might not be , And life is hard and it’s shit getting up every day to live what might feel like the same day everyday  and I guess that’s why inspires me to create going away for a moment just leaving everything forgetting about everything and just painting. 

Which artists mostly have influenced your art?

The whole 80s era influenced my art. Artists like Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, which were superstars in the art world, have certainly influenced me, but  I also love artists like Van Gogh and Francis Bacon that really inspired me to become an artist. At the end of the day my life, my memories, my struggles and  just my day to day thoughts influence and inspire my art . 

What are the art projects you have not done?

 I don’t think about the art projects that I have not done. I think about the Art Projects I’m currently doing. And my mind  changes day by day so a project that I might be interested in doing now may be a project I am not interested in doing at all next week.