Art is a state of mind. Right? Meanwhile there is one particular Australian artist named @lushsux that wants to see the world burn; in a fun way of course. By painting one viral meme at a time our views will be impacted for a nice yet refreshing image of comedic value or not.
Throughout the years art’s interpretation of mediums from what is accepted and effect is largely dictated by the personas of social media. Well, nowadays anyway. Because beforehand, people didn’t really care that much (so it seemed). Things were showcased more so through word of mouth and mysterious map points.
Now the life of a meme can be traced through the depths of profiles around the world with one single click. Does the smooth mastermind want us to take anything more from it then that? “No real message, there is plenty of street artists that do meaningful stuff. I just want to get my stuff viral or make someone laugh,” lushsux informs MiddleEasy.
Now where did the name @lushsux come from anyways? The sensual roll of the tongue makes it watery when you say it however, once it’s broken down it seems far more intriguing. “I stole the ‘lush’ part from an ex girlfriend who used to tag trains with me years ago. She dipped out when the police raided my sport. smart move in retrospect. I think she’s a biologist nowadays?” He continues on,
“The ‘sux’ comes from haters spraying ‘lush sucks’ or ‘f*ck lush’ and so on over my work. Might as well just do it for them.”
Living in Australia, the walls are not shy of cynical yet controversial works of stand out visuals from endless phone scrolling we didn’t even know we needed. The tendency to stop and smell the roses hits us like static because the message is something we can all relate to. When asked what is the inspiration behind a new piece, @lushsux responded by saying, “whatever is memeing or viral. But sometimes a man just gotta paint an anime waifu.”
I mean, is he wrong?
During a recent art show at the Hidari Zingaro Gallery in Nakano Broadway titled “Now This Is Epic” inside Tokyo, Japan, there were works that showcased the animated mind of @lushsux. Standing next to highly respected contemporary artists like Takashi Murakami makes it known that the act of spreading butter in the form of meme art is influencing the right minds.
“Meanwhile, MiddleEasy made our way down to Melbourne during UFC 234 where we took the time to check out some of the murals for ourselves around Fitzroy and Brunswick. Knowing @lushsux is no stranger to MMA, he has always been an old school fan. “Been watching mma on and off forever, my step brother would trade mma/ufc vhs bootlegs of all the Royce Gracie fights. The UFC Australia staff are also very supportive of my work, so I can’t complain,” he tells MiddleEasy. In the midst of fight week there was a sick piece of the almost UFC 234 main event which would of included middleweight Champion, Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum.
But some of the other new pieces in theme of the old co-main to new main event between Anderson “The Spider” Silva and Israel “Stylebender” Adesanya seemed to spark throughout the MMA community and the fighters themselves.
Adesanya, who won against Silva by decision after three rounds, happens to be a big fan of @lushsux has 2 murals painted of him. When asked why, the Aussie explains, “He’s a real gent, also its anime gang sh*t. Weebs might only get it.” It only seems fitting for the “Stylebender” himself given how he also creates art relates a lot of his mind power to anime. During the post fight press conference or UFC 234, we asked Adesanya what he felt about @lushsux and his murals.
Knowing that we live in a digital age we as a society are pretty glued to the robots we hold in our hands. As it seems the screen that holds the barrier from the virtual world into the real world starts to mold into one. Memes have been on the uprise since 1993, however the word was created by a man named Richard Dawkins back in 1976. The true meaning resides inside a book written by Dawkins himself by trying to explain the process of how we could possibly advance information through our culture.
Now in 2019, visual interpretation fits inside a short-termed 260 character mindset with minimal wording grasp the viewer in today’s world. That is exactly what @lushsux has been doing through all this time. Whether is is political, MMA, anime, music, trends, basically anything and everything it leaves the gateway for ideas open. Where does the artist get ideas for new work and is there a top favorite? Of course we had to ask. “Most of my subject matter is a base at best. Maybe the Julian Assange pieces, free the guyz…” If there was another fighter he would paint again The Notorious isn’t far from the mind. “I like painting Conor McGregor, I’ve painted him three times now.” He continues,
“Maybe if he gets his sh*t together I can paint him again.”
There will always be a conversation as long as @lushsux is out there still making us laugh and look at memes and the magic something can have when it goes viral.
Having the advantage to be literal and still remain comedic is something not a lot of people can claim. Clearly statements are being made and we can’t get enough of it. Moving on to what is next on the canvas for @lushsux, he notes to MiddleEasy, “The Rock painted on a huge rock face somewhere.”
As Elon Musk of course, because why not? I’m sure Musk is somewhere out in the world admiring the love. Even though he blocked @lushsux.
Pretty sure the Aussie has no hard feelings.
I mean, let’s try this again. If @lushsux is a bit bummed the lesson learned is we can just meme about it.
And the world will just be a better place. Especially even when the choice of candy is on topic.
“Swiss cheese.”
#NeverForget2019.
We asked @lushsux if he had any last words, “Uh… they is treating us good. Uh we are chilling and sh*t. I’d like to give a shout out to Ray-Ray an Big Steve and uh, send some Newports!”
On a final note, do you think McGregor should ever get that rematch?
Or maybe we can see a new mural with Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya ahead of their middleweight bout for the interim title at UFC 236 in Atlanta?__________________________________
**Make sure to follow and keep up with the adventures of @lushsux**
Website: http://www.lushsux.com
Twitter: @lushsux
Facebook: @thereallushsux
Instagram: @lushsux
Patreon: @lushsux
