{"id":17303,"date":"2015-10-28T17:22:45","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T21:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=17303"},"modified":"2020-04-03T18:06:48","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T22:06:48","slug":"how-street-artist-kelcey-fisher-spurred-his-career-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/how-street-artist-kelcey-fisher-spurred-his-career-forward","title":{"rendered":"How street artist Kelcey Fisher spurred his career forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artist Kelcey Fisher<\/a> is a big deal right now in the Los Angeles arts scene, but he’s already looking into the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dream is to have a massive workspace and studio loft and host my own shows in it,\u201d he says. \u201cI want to own a gallery.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are big dreams, but things are happening fast for the artist. In the four years that Fisher has been professionally pursuing a career in art, his work has appeared throughout the city. Currently, one of his murals hangs at the Justice Urban Tavern in downtown, another can be seen at the Venice Whaler in Venice Beach, and there\u2019s a also a piece hanging up in the offices of the Paloma Group.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fisher\u2019s style is immediately recognizable: think huge faces of Mick Jagger, Bob Marley, Clint Eastwood, or Keith Haring gazing out from strikingly patterned backgrounds. The colors are bold, the brushstrokes often thick and resembling tattoos. Fans say they like his \u201cunique style that bridges the gap between\u00a0studio and street art\u201d and his \u201ceternal sense of warmth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a><\/p>\n

Although he came up with his signature artistic style not too long ago, Fisher has been interested in art since he was a child. His mother was his preschool art teacher, and he painted all throughout high school and college.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy senior year of college, my work started selling really well,\u201d he says. \u201cIt took off from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a><\/p>\n

His pieces are sometimes multimedia. For example, his latest large-scale piece\u2014a sprawling mural for WeWork\u2019s new Santa Monica location<\/a>\u2014includes bits of glass and wood to create texture. All the materials were inspired by the history of Santa Monica itself, specifically the Native American Gabrielino-Tongva people who inhabited the Los Angeles basin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe broken mirror represents the volcanic glass that the tribe members would trade when they came into the port,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe wood triangles were based off their sacred burial grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman in the mural is a friend of Fisher\u2019s who ended up painting a few brush strokes onto the piece.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like working with figures and friends and having it be a process that we’re all working together on,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Besides the model, Fisher\u2019s managers Brent Totty and Justin Hill of Grit Collective<\/a> lent him a hand as well.<\/p>\n

Totty says he decided to sign Fisher after a mutual friend introduced them.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cKelcey had some amazing art up on the wall, and we all just started talking about what it was that he did,\u201d says Totty. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know exactly how it was going to work at the beginning. Kelcey was a good friend of ours and we wanted to help in any way we could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with his collaboration with Grit Collective, Fisher has teamed up with Art Unified<\/a>, a gallery in Venice that sells his work, and Club W<\/a>, a wine organization that used one of his images on the label of a bottle.<\/p>\n

Since he signed on with Grit Collective, Fisher says he has increased his workload and become more efficient with the professional side of his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly on, I was doing everything myself,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn’t have the Grit Collective team helping me out with the business aspect of it. Doing large-scale solo murals and putting together shows and managing everything by yourself is not that easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fisher says he\u2019s happy to have his friends along for the ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the other artists in Grit Collective are friends I\u2019ve brought on,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s cool to be working with all your friends. We have this little community, and we all help each other, and I want it to keep progressing. Maybe it’ll turn into something bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n