Artist Jay West Remembers Going to Art School With A$AP Ferg

Harlem native Jay West is quickly establishing himself as one of the most respectable artists in the contemporary and modern art scene with his innovative style of art dubbed as Pop Expressionism. The 26-year-old's captivating imagery has led West to collaborate with some of the most prestigious brands in motor vehicles and streetwear. His compelling work has been featured on a few of A$AP Rocky's music videos such as "Purple Swag" and "Get High" and has been praised by the likes of Swizz Beatz and Wale.

After a successful showing at the 2014 Art Basel in Miami, Jay West and his partners decided to launch Almighty 7, a clothing company that's been in the works for close to two years and that was officially unveiled in February of this year at a pop-up location in New York City. The grand opening of West's pop-up shop counted with the presence of NBA Dunk champion Zach LaVine, his longtime friend A$AP Ferg and several well-known artists from the New York area.

XXL caught up with the young Harlem artist during the launch of his first pop-up shop for Almighty to find out more about his pop expressionism. —Roger Krastz

XXL: How would you describe your art?
Jay West: I would describe my style as Pop Expressionism, and the reason why I call it Pop Expressionism is because it's a total blend of pop art meets abstract expressionism. I came up with that because I can't abandon either one. There was a time were I only wanted to do pop and it didn't feel right, and there was a time where I only wanted to do abstract and it didn't feel right. So now I blend the two. My background's usually really abstract and emotional in the way I'm feeling about the piece, or what I want to communicate is how I want the background to be, and then I lay the pop imagery or pop icons. So it's just one of those things where I describe it like that. It's very moody and I don't even care if it gets really moody, you'll still find some kind of appeal to the work. So I think that's why I found a really good balance with Pop Expressionism because it still appeals to the moodiness.

At what age did you start painting?
I started painting around the age of 4.  I think at that age you just do it. I think it was a God-given talent and I enjoyed it. You know, there's a a lot of people I know that were drawing phenomenally at a certain age and they just stopped and that might not have been their calling, and I really do believe that art is my calling.

Who were some of the artists that inspired you as you become more involved in art?
I think around the time I started going to college, which I didn't like, but my Art History course was one of my favorites because I got to learn the ins and outs and science of art. My two favorite artists on the planet were Francis Bacon and Willem de Kooning, for many reasons. I feel like their emotional devotion into their work was at a 10. They were honest with their feelings. They were honest on how they transcribe their work and how they communicate it to their viewers and it was one of those things where it just happened to be commercially popping. Those two guys were my biggest influences.

Growing up did you face any challenges trying to break into the art industry?
Definitely. I think some of the challenges I faced were being young and black in New York and that's just something that even has escalated to today. You would think that in 2015, police brutality and stuff like that would have a decline or that it would slow up, and it seems like it's been picking up for like the past two years or so. Which is unfortunate, but those are some of the challenges that I faced. I could've easily been influenced to be in a negative direction, but I think that the art definitely did save me. It was the life raft for me. Other challenges that I faced other than my neighborhood being in turmoil at times would just be keeping confident, know what I mean? Staying confident and being patient. Because it's all about the patience.

You and A$AP Ferg came up together and even went to the same art school. How was that time for you? And how valuable is your friendship with Ferg?
That was such a vivid time for me. There's so many memorable moments. There were times where me and Ferg would be in my basement. I would be painting and he would be making belts or t-shirts and we would just constantly talk for hours and we still do the same thing. We would talk for hours on how we wanted to take over Harlem, and you know, our neighborhood in Manhattan is so small in the bigger scale of, like, the world, but as young kids we weren't thinking like that. We were thinking like Harlem was the end all, be all, and if you were popping in Harlem you were popping anywhere. So we didn't care.

We would have conversations about taking over Harlem and one day it just happened. We were just doing everything we wanted to do in Harlem. We had the wave. Any time we threw a party, the party didn’t need to be promoted, it would just get flooded, so we felt on top of the world. Then you get the life lesson of, "Okay, you're getting older now, here's real bills," so you have to start paying bills, you got responsibilities, so you start aging and you start getting older and I feel like we didn't lose that touch. We still kids at heart. We still kids that dream big and that's how he creates and that's how I create. And I think that's why we still have such a dynamic relationship other than the fact that we still got love for each other as brothers. We love each other creatively, too. We challenge each other. We push each other and he's just a phenomenal human being.

What do you think was the art piece that really struck people and put your name out there as an artist to watch for?
I believe two pieces put my name out there moreso than anything. One of them was a painting I did for Art Basel the first time I went there, which was titled “Check Mate.” It's a depiction of a wolf slashing at a robot and it has a Damien Hirst reference of his dot paintings, which he's famous for, and the dot paintings are kind of ripping and melting away. And that was my way of saying how I wanted to burst into the art scene and go up against the heavyweights. So that was one piece that caught a lot of people's attention because of the reference.

And the most recent would be the BAPE collaboration and designing for a brand like BAPE. That's a landmark, you know what I mean? That's a milestone in itself and I'm really blessed to have that under my belt. I got 100 percent creative control on the shirt and that's unheard of. I think even beyond the fact that I executed the artwork well, I think the fact that I included my vision on the shirt and they didn't rework the shirt was amazing. That to me was one of the biggest accomplishments, because it was like, Wow, this brand that we all looked up to as kids and we've seen in every music video, I'm working with [them]. That's one of the things that definitely put me out there a lot more.

At the most recent Art Basel in Miami you did an amazing painting on a BMW. How did that come about for you?
We caught the attention of BMW and that's how I like to work a lot of the times. I like that to catch people's attention as opposed to waiting for the opportunity to knock on my door. It's one of those things my partners organized and when I found out that I had a selection of cars I definitely went towards the BMW. I feel like BMW is a masculine car manufacturer. It appeals to the female demographic, but I feel like I'm always into the dominant cars. I like the Lamborghini. I like power cars, so I naturally went towards the BMW. And once I got the creative control to do that I just pretty much went wild.

It was a bigger canvas and it's one of those things where it was going to be expressed through a different channel so you have to let loose, you know? And I didn't over-step my boundaries. I didn't make it messy or too over the top. It felt good and I'm pretty much on the radar of BMW now. I’m trying to do some bigger things that are in the art car program of BMW, so I just have to be patient and I'm sure big things will come.

You recently launched your Almighty 7 clothing line. How do you feel about the collection?
I started Almighty 7 pretty much in my basement, like a lot of things that I've started. It's a brand that consists of a lot of divinity, positivity, uplifting and righteousness. You know, we face a lot of adversity and a lot of negativity due to our circumstances, and a lot of things are thrown in our face the wrong way. You turn on the news and you really get a sense of everything that is going wrong. So I feel like if I can try to contribute in some way to make things a little bit better, I'll do it through Almighty.

This is something that's been going on for at least two years now and it's taken such a long time because I always did it just independently. I could be a person that works on a very weird schedule. If I'm feeling like doing 1,000 shirts one month that's what I'm going to do. If I don't feel like doing any it won't be out, so I've learned that you can't work like that. When people want to acquire things from you as an artist, it's like you're depriving people now, in a way, because everyone can't purchase a $5,000 painting or a $1,000 print. Someone can get a $40 t-shirt and that's a part of the artist, that's a part of you. So I've learned to just be able to spread myself a little more and touch the people in a different way and that's through the channel of Almighty. It's taken a long time, but we here now. I'm really in love with the collection. So far, so good, everything thing is looking really crisp and it's true to the vision.

Filed Under: A$AP Ferg, A$AP Mob, A$AP Rocky, art, bape, BMW, Editor's Picks, Feature, featured, Jay West, Modern Art, painting

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