lemus

To tell the story of Lemus is like trying on a pair of old jeans. It fits perfectly. Each step along his journey has further authenticated his product with a new virtue to his persona, a new skill to his strokes and a new sense of identity to express. Imagine yourself silent, attempting to decipher the sounds of a foreign Language. Imagine trying to read the lips of others as they utter unknown syllables as you learn to adapt to a society you had only heard rumours of. It was in the late 80’s when Lemus was gifted with the change that would catapult the legacy his three children have before them. In an effort to express his unspeakable ideas and break through the language barrier he experienced when his family arrived in the U.S. from Honduras, Lemus turned to visual art. He was promptly placed in advanced placement art classes for three of the four years in his Miami, FL high school, promptly followed by an enlistment in the army. Lemus credits his experience in the military with teaching him work ethic – as he became the designated artist for his platoon when his comedic sketches of drill sergeants and superiors were confiscated. Immediately, mural painting and t-shirt designs replaced physical training exercises. After serving the military, he became an art tutor in a program called “Soldiers to Scholars” where he fell in love with mentoring children. He later enrolled in community college where he had formal education in multimedia design and visual arts – attaining years of practical art skills in a condensed period of time. In college, he found the artistic style of Impressionism spoke to his strong-willed nature. At this point, Lemus absorbed the confidence he found in the Impressionist movement, combined it with the urban influence of his youth and furthered in flourishing. While in Clearwater, FL, he gained exposure to the business of “art”, while working with local art gallery owners and art dealers and continuing to find inspiration and identity in other urban artists, such as, Jean-Michelle Basquiat soon followed as Lemus and six fellow artists formed the “B-Side Artists”, a group of city kids turned young adult – dedicated to appreciating and expressing the beauty found amongst gum-covered sidewalks and sticker-adorned light posts. Lemus is currently displayed in several local pop-up galleries throughout Florida as well as in fine art galleries such as City Arts Factory (Orlando, FL) and Artopia (Miami, FL) ‘More than sunshine’ collective and exhibits. A moderate and humble soul, Lemus is an artist of strength and awareness and an inspiration to his community. A seeker of truth, an infallible finder of life, Lemus has learned that accepting one’s Artistry uplifts the soul and Eliminates the weight to one self. Consequently uplifting the human race, the natural world that sustains it and the cosmic existence that mesmerizes it. Such an innate understanding of this truth, may be first most valuable virtue we should all be inspired to attain – dedication to one’s own conciousness.