Creative Visual Art of Renowned Rappers on Display at Bitfactory Gallery

Photo courtesy of Deca Art

Bitfactory Gallery is pleased to host “Visible Planets”, a unique exhibition that highlights the visual art of five artists who are most well-known for their talents in the music world—Aesop Rock, Deca, Quelle Chris, Kid Acne and Isaac Sawyer. The show opens with a public reception on July 21st from 6-9 pm and remains on view through August 10th. This crossover event is paired with a hip-hop concert on August 5^th at Herman’s Hideaway where most of the artists will also perform. On August 4^th the artists will be in attendance at a special gallery reception from 5-10 pm, adding to the vibrant energy of the August First Friday Art Walk on Santa Fe Drive. This signature event is sponsored by KGNU, Artist Proof Collective, Abstract Denver, and patron Ashley Garrett.

Bitfactory gallerist Bill Thomason was approached by colleague and producer of this event, Dan Drossman, about his idea for this unique pairing of music and visual art. As a musician and visual artist himself, Thomason was happy to help connect him to a music venue and host the exhibition. The artwork ranges from detailed, free-hand portraits and colorful graphic-style illustrations to trippy abstracts, and collage-like visuals created using paint, ink and digital mediums. The artists are traveling in from Los Angeles, New York City and England, so Denver’s hip-hop fans are excited to be introduced to their visual work and see these renowned rappers together performing their mind-bending, socially and politically aware, music right here at home. Rapper Homeboy Sandman, who will be participating as a performer only, was an integral part of helping Drossman bring these artists together.

Photo courtesy of Isaac Sawyer

Visible Planets Art Show

Jul 21, 2023 – Aug 10, 2023
Bitfactory Gallery, 851 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204
Featuring Aesop Rock (art show only), Deca, Quelle Chris, Kid Acne, Isaac Sawyer.

Opening Reception: Friday, July 21, 2023 – Free and open to the public.
Artist Reception: First Friday, August 4, 2023 – Free and open to the public.

Photo courtesy of Aesop Rock

Visible Planets Hip-Hop Show

Saturday, Aug 5, 2023, at Herman’s Hideaway. Featuring: Homeboy Sandman (rap show only), Deca, Blu, Quelle Chris, Kid Acne, Isaac Sawyer. DJs Felixfast4ward and Spectacular Diagnostics. More information and tickets available at HermansHideway.com

­­­Aesop Rock is participating only in the visual art portion of the event and will not be performing onstage. He received a BFA in painting from the School for the Arts at Boston University, but upon graduation focused more on his musical artistry. About 10 years he began to experiment with creating his drawings on an ipad using Procreate and has been keeping up with his visual art practice ever since, capturing the small, daily moments of his subject’s lives. Learn more about his music at aesoprock.com.

Deca is originally from Denver but is currently based out of NYC. He is mostly self-taught, creating comics and graffiti since a young age. After years of focusing solely on making music, he reignited his interest in visual art in 2011, using acrylic paint and ink as his medium. He states “I got back into it as a way of creating that didn’t feel as heavy to me as my process of making music. It’s a lot more meditative… it’s my very small way of trying to aid in the healing of what I see as an extremely sick society. That’s the main intention behind both my visual art and my music”. His work has been exhibited in galleries in NYC and Denver and he has designed most of his album covers. Learn more about his music at deca.bandcamp.com/music.

Photo courtesy of Quelle

Quelle Chris is a self-taught visual artist inspired by his father’s paintings and brother’s graphic art. With an interest in drawing from a young age studied their artistry and creative process while developing a style of his own. He works mostly digitally with pen and graphics while dabbling in other genres. His work is about exploring—capturing moments and thoughts and running with them, making mistakes yet making them work. He has had a couple of gallery features in Chicago and New York but the majority of his public artworks exist in the music world—for himself and fellow rap artists—as animated visuals and videos, promotional pieces, and album cover artwork. Learn more about his music at quellechris.bandcamp.com.

Kid Acne is an artist, illustrator and hip-hop musician who resides in England. He has a background and education in Fine Art, combined with experience in commercial illustration, graffiti, street art and printmaking. While building his name as a hip-hop artist he has also shown artwork in a number of group and solo shows, and has painted murals in locations around the world, and his designs have been featured on numerous album covers. He feels his visual art is in a constant battle between decoration and authenticity. Learn more about his music at kidacne.com.

Photo courtesy of Kid Acne

Isaac Sawyer has been dedicated to building community through Hip-Hop music, visual art, and creativity for over 25 years. In addition to exhibiting his visual art in Brooklyn and Las Vegas, Sawyer has self-released albums and singles, toured Nevada, Arizona and Utah, and has opened for and been a featured performer for numerous mainstream and underground hip-hop artists. He recently moved into the realm of teaching artist, lending his expertise to the youth of New York through beat-making workshops. Learn more about his music at isawyermusic.com/home.

Bitfactory Gallery, exhibits work by the best emerging and up-and-coming local, national, and international visual artists. It strives to showcase art that may not be a good fit for other galleries. Additionally, they host one major or renowned artist a year, bringing new and exciting work to Denver. The Bitfactory building also houses artist studios with the vision of providing a helpful, friendly atmosphere for artists to work solo or collaborate with others. Gallery hours are Tuesday–Saturday, 11am–4p and by appointment. For additional information please contact Bill Thomason at info@bitfactory.net or (303) 862-9367. www.bitfactory.net