TAWA at 45
The Exhibition
Leon Rainbow
Trust
mixed media on canvas, 2018; 24″h x 36″w
Leon Rainbow has been living and creating graffiti-influenced art in Trenton, NJ since 1999. He learned classic graffiti styles from Pose 2, Joe Base, and Sew Sm in the early 2000s. He mastered characters, backgrounds, and pieces then started experimenting with colors, patterns, and elements, and developed his own style of murals. He recently has been designing and painting large-scale ground murals like crosswalks, playgrounds, basketball courts, and intersections. Rainbow has been active in the local art scene for over 20 years, collaborating with various artists and organizations. He is the lead promoter for New Jersey’s annual hip-hop festival, Jersey Fresh Jam. He gives back to the community by teaching classes and workshops.
“My art is a fusion of life and imagination. I morph graffiti with fine art, combining it with an underlying message. This allows me to reach a wide variety of people. The image relates more to youth than the message to adults. My design pulls them together bringing them to the middle ground to which they relate. I am about my message. My art is my voice, protest, agreement, whisper, shout, and cry. To see my artwork is to see me understand it is to think about its message. This is my life.”