Getting Obsessed With Artist Darius Moreno
New York, New York
Darius Moreno
12/7/19
Hailing from the DMV, the New York based artist has channeled his deep appreciation for black culture and Hip Hop aesthetics into uniquely vibrant masterpieces that jump off the canvas. With his list of accolades steadily building, most notably his recent work with Goldlink, we discuss his process and what’s next in his creative journey.
Do you remember the first piece of art you made?
No, not the first piece of art but I remember the first theme. I was constantly drawing Lil Kim. I can look back in books and they don’t exactly look like her of course but I would know because there were so many drawings of her.
What is it about Hip Hop visuals in particular that fascinate you so much?
This is hard because now I’m trying to move away from Hip Hop. I’m always working around Hip Hop, rappers or something like that in music. It’s kind of put me in a category but I gravitate towards it because Hip Hop covers topics that aren’t normally discussed, underlying messages where you have to listen back to the music to understand what they were talking about. Sometimes Hip Hop can justify a lot of the things black people do that other races would not understand. I’m annoyed with the rise of “cancel culture”. I think the new generation of Hip Hop fans is quick to cancel people and call others out on stuff that they don’t know about . But for example, I’m so happy that we have City Girls and so many female rappers again. It’s a good move when we have girls talking about the shit that they would do to men. We need everyone represented because men talk about what they do to women all the time. You see the double standard when female rappers’ lyrics share similar content. People react to it negatively and I wonder why because it’s real. It’s what women are really doing. It’s the same thing that men are doing. There’s so much culture in Hip Hop and it’s always evolving.
How would you define the era of Hip Hop we’re experiencing now?
Right now Hip Hop is closer to the 70s than we’ve ever been. Older Hip Hop people are still not used to the Lil Uzis and Young Thugs or someone who feels like dressing so androgynously. I feel like this era is similar to the 70s because there are artists that remind me of Jimmy Hendrix, the Isley brothers and all these guys who also dressed androgynously and were comfortable with drugs. It’s a super psychedelic, funkadelic moment of Hip Hop.
Have you noticed any differences in the art scenes between DC and New York?
Yeah, there’s definitely a completely different style. A lot of art in DC is very abstract especially compared to New York. When I think of the New York art scene honestly the first thing I think of is street art. Graffiti is everywhere in America but none of it compares to the graffiti in New York. DC is clean but the people are very Rasta so the art comes off very tribal with a sense of street. For example, it’ll be characters wearing Nike Boosts and dashikis versus New York where it’s street all the way.
Favorite artists?
My favorite artists growing up were the ones that I saw on tv and in books like Kadir Nelson who did a lot of children’s books and paintings. He did Drake’s album cover- the one where he’s a baby on one side and it’s his face on the other side. Bruce Smith, that’s the guy who did Proud Family. I didn’t look to traditional artists like Van Gogh. I just liked cartoons so if there was a certain style that really stood out to me I would look up that artist. Aaron Mcgruder, Earnest Barnes who did the Good Times painting...
What kind of art do you gravitate towards?
Comic books, cartoons...because I do like expressive stuff. When I look at comic books I like that they’re always in movement and always have facial expressions. For real inspiration, I always look at old magazines and album covers. I feel like they have a direction that’s super different.
One example is Pen and Pixel who did all the Hot Boyz album art during the early 2000s. They’re ugly in a sense but beautiful at the same time because there’s so much going on.
In this time, what do you think is key to developing yourself as an individual artist?
I think everyone has something they’re truly obsessed with, almost to a weird point. Everyone needs to dive deeper into these obsessions and passions. Sometimes I try to look at things outside of my field of interest. I’ll see somebody post content and be inspired to do something similar but it won’t feel right.
Lately I’ve grown interested in ballroom culture and if I’m feeling uninspired I can look at old videos on Youtube for hours to be re-energized. I think people need to reflect on their passions and research them to the fullest extent. You can never become bored or uninspired because there’s always a lot to learn about a subject. Everyone just has an obsession that they need to tap into for themselves so they can feel like an expert cuz that’s what I do.
Eventually it does get to a point where you run out of stuff. I’ve done all the research on ballroom culture and Hip Hop. Now I’m fascinated by pimp culture and I’m starting to read again.
People need to read too, shit. I hate reading but in order to get inspired and love what I’m gonna work on I need to find out everything I need to know about it. It’s the key to ultimately finding yourself. Don’t be scared to research what you like.
Are there some favorite apps that you love to use?
Right now?
-Procreate
-IStopmotion
-Cashapp
-Jack’d...
-Oh, and DatPiff
Where do you see the future of your work going?
For the future, I really wanna push the dolls my sister Dare and I are working on and make them a huge brand. I want to create more animation but currently everything is collaboration.
Tell me more about the dolls.
DareDollz *laughs*. They’ve been under the radar for a minute because we have a lot of things to work out but those are like my kids. That’s why I’m trying to work harder on them. Unfortunately, as soon as you start doing something interesting everyone else starts doing it. It is what it is.
DareDollz is where I struggle because I see so many other creators with doll themed social media pages. I don’t want to feel rushed to put a doll in order to compete because DareDollz is something that is original. It’s my style and I want to perfect them before I feel like I can sell them.
The goal is to make sellable, collectible dolls and put them on the website. Eventually we want to incorporate them in stop motion short films.
Any parting words you’d like to share with budding artists?
All I can say is that artists should try not to be jealous of each other. If you see another artist doing something that you wanted to do, be happy that someone you admire got that chance. Just look at it as another opportunity for you to execute it your way.