Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to LeAndre Barnett. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi LeAndre, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
Growing up I always knew I wanted to pursue art in some way, originally I wanted a career in animation which had been my dream since I was a child. Of course reality set in that I wouldn’t be able to afford the tuition so my choices were to go to college for medical or figure something out, I immediately chose to figure something out.I begin searching for different careers in art for weeks trying to figure it out not mention I had a baby on the way, all of this at 19 I felt stuck because all the jobs required college education in the art I then looked in something more expressive like how could I tell a story with my art being of value.I looked into the highest form of art which lead me to fine contemporary art starting with Picasso, I never knew much about him due to never taking any education in art so I educated my self a Little on it but I had no connection to it due to it being European lead and then I discovered Basquiat which became my gateway into Contemporary art through his cover on the New York times in 1985 I saw myself, then I begin to create LeAndre Barnett.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
LeAndre is visual experience through art, design, animation etc. I got into fine by first trying to decide what my art would look like and then showcasing that in many ways as possible
It took years to get it to where it is now but even from my first show in 2014 viewers complimented me for my illustrative techiniuqe and vision.
My work is a study of visual aesthetics and philosophy with the human experience and history, I found where my mentors attempted to take their expressions and how I can further push that mission.
I want people to understand how serious I take the mission of contributing and evolving the conversation in art very seriously like what are limits and are we really testing them.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Learning more about yourself, what you like and what your capable of. I hated school I hated learning because I never would get it now im treated like I know everything because my investment into self educating my self everyday and then expressing that knowledge.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Almost every show Ive been apart of something went wrong or I was just never taken serious….like one show they threw 90% of all my work in the back that I brought for the showcase,I ended up being the only artist that sold any artwork that night on top of that they had bring the piece back out from the backroom due to all the other ones selling pretty quickly. I deal with things like that constantly happening to me but I understand its for me learn and grow from it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.leandrebarnett.com
- Instagram: leandrebarnett
- Twitter: leandrebarnett
Image Credits
All images where created by me