Jerk Beasley is an artist from New Orleans who had the opportunity to showcase his work for General Motors.
Beasley spoke with rolling out about his art and what it means to him.
What is the story behind your hood art?
I was able to paint my ‘hood, on a hood. This is a true story. This is the actual home I grew up in, and I used my neighborhood, referenced it, and turned it into a piece of art. Everything in this painting is super realistic. I grew up as an artist and lived between two streets, one was called Art Street, and one was called Painters. This is a General Motors event, and I own a GMC, which is a 1976 GMC 10, and I put it all in collaboration. Basketball was my thing. and the kids would come to my house and play, so I had to put that on the hood. I lived in a small neighborhood, so that’s why you see a hand coming in. It shrinks everything around it, making it seem like everything is smaller like a toy or a figure in a sense. This was a little compilation I did, and I came up with this idea to represent my ‘hood on the hood of a GM.
What does art mean to you?
Art is super therapeutic to me. Before I was getting paid for art, this was something that I always did. Before art was cool, this is what I [was] doing. I didn’t start out painting within the last five years, I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I was considered a weirdo, so that was my therapeutic time and my way to release all my ideas on my mind just by painting and drawing.
What do you think makes you different from other artists?
What makes me different is that I tell a story in every piece. Every piece has to have a story and a meaning. If you see a face, that face has a meaning. It’s easy for me to paint. There are a lot of artists out here and everybody can create, but everyone doesn’t have a story. Everyone doesn’t have the details. That’s what makes me different, and I’m super detailed when I paint. I’m not going to just paint anything. I’m doing this out of passion, and it has to make sense when I do it.
