Today we’d like to introduce you to BB Bastidas.
BB, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I started taking my art seriously around age 19, and at that time I was living in a skate house in Oceanside Ca where I’m born and raised. A bunch of my friends also lived there; people would always be coming to stay at my house from local skaters, to skaters from all over America, and internationally. They would stay and see me working on stuff and ask if they could use it for board graphics and shirts for company’s they were sponsored by. I was going to a local college at the time and was taking art class. I started getting work and decided to drop out.
I worked in skateboard warehouses doing shipping and receiving till I was 24 and my boss at the time Troy Morgan the owner of the Kayo corp (DGK skateboards) asked me if I would like to be the warehouse manager who would come with a nice raise for myself at the time but I would be locked into the job for a long time he told me to give him an answer by the end of the next workday. He knows I had a strong passion for doing my art, but I still had not really left the north county or really pushed my self to the limit. The next day came, and he called me into his office and told me that he was going to let me go and give me severance pay too so I could go do what I really wanted.
This was a huge turning point for me in my life and career. The year is 2011 and now unemployed I had to make some moves. I had always fantasized about doing a huge solo show and doing domestic and international show. So thats exactly what I did, that year I did a solo show in Carlsbad Ca and a huge skateboarding trade show, then did a show in New York, then did my first international show in Sydney Au at china height gallery and one in Melbourne. I could not believe what was taking place I was traveling constantly and making money off what I love to do! Before this, I have never really left North county or experienced people caring about my work.
Since that first year, I have continued to do domestic and international shows including Paris, Bordeaux, London, Amsterdam, Tilburg, Tokyo and more even having a solo exhibition in the Oceanside Museum of Art! In that time I lived in LA for a few years, and in France, I was doing murals all around and really inspired by this big city street art. I moved back to Oceanside around 2014 and wanted to start to bring street art to Oceanside, so I started painting the walls, before that all I saw was a painting of the pier.
In 2018 I moved to New York, and now I am currently living and working here but still, have many ties back to my home city where I go back every month or every other month. I own two skate companies Psockadelic and BumBag that are located there. I also still do murals back in California.
Well, I hope that kinda gives you a little background on me. That was kinda fun thinking about the past haha!
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I do Fine art/ Murals/ graphic design/art direction.
My inspiration is really just my surroundings being from California skating culture, the supernatural, and just trying to make sense of the world the way I see it.
Do you think conditions are generally improving for artists? What more can cities and communities do to improve conditions for artists?
I think that we are in a strange but really cool time to be an artist in the sense that with social media we have the ability to be seen by the masses if you have a large following. Also, think that it’s very saturated with that too, so it’s hard to stand out.
I feel like North county has come a long way for the arts since I was a kid! But also has a long way to go.
We need to get the art back in schools or find a way to offer it to the youth. Maybe there is a program I don’t know about?
It all starts with artists getting together and making a movement. Maybe have housing for artists like they’re doing in other cities?
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
On my instagram @bb_bastidas
Website www.bbbastidas.com.
On skateboards.
Walls outside.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bbbastidas.com
- Instagram: @bb_bastidas
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BBastidasArt/
Image Credit:
Travis Troute
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