On the “City Lights” series “Speaking of Art,” local artists share insights into their influences, processes and experiences in town. This edition features Dwayne “Dubelyoo” Wright, an artist and curator in Atlanta. Wright grew up in New York and recalls the burgeoning hip-hop movement in the city of his youth; he says the styles and setting of New York and hip-hop surface in his work today.
Wright’s drawings and paintings often take the form of beautifully stylized portraiture, with Black subjects radiating charisma before vivid, expressive backgrounds showing metalwork, birds, flowers, giant music speakers and cityscapes. “I believe that as an artist, you add a little bit of yourself in just about everything you do, whether it’s commercial work, whether it’s personal work, illustration, design… and I’m no different,” said Wright.
The striking look of his figures intentionally activates a viewer’s sense of connection. “I like to create someone that is familiar-looking, to the point where you might feel like you know someone that looks like this person. You know, like you may have seen this person somewhere,” said Wright. “When you add that level of familiarity with the composition, the colors, the design of the piece as well as some of the elements and ‘Easter eggs’ in the painting, it adds a level of connection that draws the viewer in. Once you have that, then you can take the viewer on any journey you want.”
