Daniel Jefferson

Daniel Jefferson (b. 1977) is a self-taught street artist and St. Louis native who, by the age of 3, was drawing and painting alongside his father, the artist Melvin Jefferson. Together, they shared studios and collaborations into Dan’s mid-20s.

Throughout his career, Dan has been both a solo practitioner and a collaborator. He painted with a St. Louis-based graffiti crew from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. Then as now, his compositions contained expressive line and figural elements – human faces, eyes – as well as ethereal and allegorical motifs, such as angels and devils. Today, Dan’s artistic focus is on a more studio-based format.

Dan had his first show alongside his father’s work in St. Louis in 2003. He has exhibited his work both locally and globally, including in St. Louis, New York, and Antwerp. Dan resides in St. Louis, and his work can be found in numerous private and public collections. He is represented by Walker-Cunningham Fine Art.


Artist Statement

Art was always my own thing – the thing nobody could touch... and when I was a child, I used to get into trouble at school. When I’d draw after school at the YMCA, that kept me quiet...isolated...and in some ways, this has not changed...this feeling... an escape from the things in my life I choose to escape from. The physical act of painting is the most interesting thing to me. As you’re painting, it sounds like you are in a café, hearing all types of voices having conversations. Something similar is going on inside your head. The voices are different ideas and inspirations, and the loudest one gets to manifest itself in your creation.

But if I had to list inspirations, I’d say Japanese woodblock prints, Manga, Egyptian art, graffiti/street art, tattoo art, Buddhism, and some of art’s usual suspects – Picasso, Basquiat, and other name brands. At the same time, I feel like the speed at which I create work allows me not to have the time to worry about art history or how someone will feel about what I am making. I have a better chance of being genuine and legit. Now, I do understand that you have to pay tribute to the past in small or large ways – people need that. I’ve been told one of my strengths is my use of color. I try and float back and forth between calm and chaos. I love forcing colors that have nothing in common to deal with each other.


https://www.walkercunningham.com/bipolarholiday