Oct 29

Oct 29 David Lebatard "LEBO"

Art, Culture, Fashion and Design, Creative People

LEBO is a renowned artist and visual storyteller who manifests his vision through an ever-evolving set of media. After his residency at the International Museum of Cartoon Art in Boca Raton, LEBO has gone on to connect with a legion of devotees through his vibrant, collaborative live painting sessions including such headlining acts as Thievery Corporation, the Beastie Boys, Bela Fleck, Arturo Sandoval, the Disco Biscuits, and Les Claypool, to name a few.

LEBO's work has been collected at the highest levels of celebrity; keynote pieces can be found amidst the permanent collections of such trendsetting corporations as Redbull, Bacardi, Universal Music Group, Sony Pictures, the SF Sentry, the Grammy Association, and Gibson Guitars, whose patronage of David includes residency at their Miami Design District Gibson Showroom. Ever the consummate champion of charitable cause, LEBO has lent his own name and creative direction to many outreach projects including United Way of Miami Dade, Friends of the Israeli Defense Fund, and the Mount Sinai Hospital Young Presidents Club.

Currently, Arts Fund is working with LEBO on a multi-city exhibition campaign involving local musicians, galleries, and contemporary art museums to bring David’s unique Latin music influence and brand of highly stylized cartoon/ graffiti painting to top destinations throughout the US.

LEBO: “For me, drawing is the skeleton of what I do while painting is the body. I've kept sketchbooks my whole life, and my paintings usually begin with a seed planted there. I use this seed to create a platform for the painting in terms of subject matter and composition. Beyond this, I try to allow for improvisation to take place and to have the piece grow on its own. The biggest influence in this approach over the years has been improvisational methods of the early be-bop musicians from whom I've learned. I really appreciate the way they understand the raw principals of their art and need to allow for an organic, free form evolution to take place within that form”.