Today we’d like to introduce you to Darius Airo.
Darius, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Born and raised on the north side of Chicago. I spent a lot of time in Uptown and Rogers Park in my teenage years. Drawing and image making have been my favorite things since I was a young child. I graduated from SAIC undergrad last May and am still in the midst of calibrating to living and having a practice.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I’ve been focused primarily on acrylic/water-soluble paint on paper and am driven by a graphic language that’s spawned from cartoons and commercial imagery and some branches of art history. I’m a painting nerd and that flourished at SAIC, but my work is introverted and relational in terms of my experience in alignment with the audiences I sit with. An eclectic, de-gendered, de-raced figure often sits in for a mouthful of interactions or people or places. The abject is a big theme for me but self-love is cool too. Lots of tubs and bathrooms recently?
How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
I just want a nice big studio with all the room and supplies I want and no responsibilities outside of making stuff I don’t know why that’s too much to ask for
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I just had the honor of showing with a handful of my idols and a group of young artists I could not be prouder to call my peers in ‘The Chicago Show’ in Brooklyn last month. Props forever to Madeleine Mermall for curating a fantastic show. I just painted a pop-up installation at Wild Wind tattoo in Chicago that will be up for a couple months… more bathtubs… Rover gallery has been great too ‘On Your Missile Toes’ opened last month; really dynamic group of artists that I was really excited to be showing with, Carmen Chaparro, James Ulmer. That was curated by Kenneth Heyne, also a sweet angel who I love. I don’t have any shows coming up. I post a bunch on Instagram @assiest and my website stays clean and up to date with a larger catalogue; dariusairo.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: Dariusairo.com
- Email: darius@dariusairo.com
- Instagram: Assiest
Image Credit:
I took all of them
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
