DALeast

Street artist DALeast (Chinese, b. 1984) joined a graffiti crew after growing disillusioned with his conservative art education in China. The artist, who doesn’t reveal his real name and whose pseudonym has no true meaning, created paintings, sculptures, performances, and installations as a member of China’s Wuhan group. Now based in South Africa, DALeast primarily paints animals with an amalgamation of layered, fractured lines juxtaposed against shadows. The energetic creatures appear to jump off the walls. His murals, which are often hundreds of feet long, are inspired by the South African landscape and grounded in the Chinese emphasis on the spirit. DALeast uses art to express emotions and to address the tension between natural and artificial spaces.