Darryl Betz is a South African graphic designer and artist living and working in Johannesburg. His work is uncompromising and raw and draws inspiration from contemporary, urban Africa.

The artist enjoys the use of interesting mediums and the combining of various elements together in a fresh way. He says: ‘Very often, the works are composed by means of ‘creation through subtraction’, using negative space or layering to explore beyond the obvious dimensions of space and shape.’

The eclectic pragmatism of contemporary life serves as the springboard for Zinc Citizens – a recent collection that blends materials, techniques, styles and mediums in an organic and gritty expression.

Darryl Betz expands: ‘At once objectified and intimate, Zinc Citizens may combine elevated perspective with slice-of-life detail. Highly structured patterns with childlike, naïve markings; the brutal, ugly, deformed or asymmetrical with a gestalt of incidental, sub-conscious, or understated beauty.’

Starting on acetate (a transparent plastic substrate) that is covered with thick black ink, the work is gradually deconstructed to completion. Says the artist: ‘The result is organic orderliness in which harsh realism is always static and the abstract is always dynamic.’

 

Newsletter Sign Up