|
Justin Bua
|
Justin Bua was born in 1968 in New York City. The only child to a single mother, the young spent most of his time in the streets and became very familiar with the characters that populated the neighborhood - characters that would later find their way into his paintings. At age thirteen he was accepted into the High School of Music and Performing Arts on a scholarship. While he studied visual art there, his “education” on streets continued with his involvement in graffiti-writing and breakdancing. At sixteen, Bua took time off from school to perform with a breakdancing troupe in over a hundred shows all over the world.
At age twenty, the artist was accepted to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in Illustration. He had also learned the technical skills he needed to articulate his art more clearly. His art, he says, became a visually distorted expression of his childhood memories and the rhythms of the streets and breakdancing became major subjects.
Bua started his career doing slick bottom paintings for the skateboard industry. He created a line of fine art posters and quickly made his way into the commercial freelance world. He created numerous CD covers for companies such as Warner Bros., Atlantic Records, Sony Music and BMG Music, as well as advertising work for The Nike Corporation and other clients. In 1999, he animated the opening title sequence for MTV's “The Lyricist Lounge Show”. Then, in a process that took over two years, Bua conceived, created and wrote “Urbania”, an animation series for Comedy Central.
He went on to develop the characters and backgrounds for the EA Sports video game, “NBA Street.” He then created the world for Slum Village’s award winning music video, “Tainted”. Bua recently teamed up with EA Sports again as the visual consultant for their new best-selling game, “NFL Street”.
His urban flavored paintings have become very popular with a young audience and on college campuses as well as among Hollywood A-listers like Robert DeNiro and Christina Ricci, both collectors of his work. The artist also teaches Figure Drawing in the Fine Arts Department at the University of Southern California (USC) and lives in Los Angeles, CA.
|
|
