Dan Lish

THE IMMORTAL J. DILLA FLOWS IN AN ORIGINAL WORK OF ART

Combining his passion for Hip Hop, love for its creators, and his own artistic mastery, Dan Lish executes intricately beautiful and often dream-like drawings that celebrate legendary figures in the industry. His work has been supported by numerous artists and notable figures such as DJ Prince Paul, Biz Markie, De La Soul, Raekwon, J. Period, Pos, Rakim, Large Professor, RZA, Diamond D, Cypress Hill, Goldie, J-Dilla Foundation, Lee Scratch Perry, Dave Chapelle, and Pharoahe Monarch with J. Live writing the forward for his first book, Egostrip Book 1.

In his own words, Lish describes the inspiration behind the current lot, J-Dilla - Dilla Flows Again, featuring the late, great producer and beats master known for creating luminous, off-kilter melodies, J. Dilla:

"A consistent theme I like to explore is a continuation of the soul journey. From our physical manifestation - our meaty rental car, if you will - to the transition of the something non-physical. Around the time I was working on this piece, I was reading a lot of books by Dolores Canon, a hypnotherapist who induced her clients into a deep Somnambulistic state of trance, often venturing to past lives and way beyond. [In this work] I've featured J-Dilla in a new realm of beauty and harmonic frequencies, frolicking beyond the veil with his Heavyweight tree speaker friends and divine masculine and feminine aspects of the Soul, but in a plump and luminous doughboy style." (Dan Lish)

The digitally colored version of this work appears on page 60 of Egostrip Book 1.

Dan Lish has been a lead concept artist for the video game industry for over 20 years and has worked across a broad spectrum of other entertainment mediums, including comic and book illustrations, album cover art, and toy design. Born in the English town of Bury St. Edmunds Suffolk, Dan fell in love with Hip Hop in the early 1980s as a b-boy, graffiti writer, and later a D.J. for pirate radio stations and night clubs in and around the south coast of England. Having dual nationality, Lish re-located to New York City in the late 1990s, where he deepened his love for Hip Hop culture. 

He most recently completed a crowdfunded campaign that successfully launched his first artbook, Egostrip Book 1, a compendium of Hip Hop illustrations in chronological order, and is currently working on Book Two. 

The Egostrip Project was born out of Dan's black book drawings of his favorite Hip Hop musicians that he would create while commuting on the busy London tube. Putting pen to paper, Dan's elbow rocked back and forth in tandem with his fellow travelers, creating a unique, organized chaos that came to life in each drawing. Back in his studio, Dan would scan each drawing and color them digitally to add texture, tone and details. This stage brought the original pen drawings to life, adding a depth and richness to each work. Dan describes the project as "a passion and a meditative therapy for years of working the other end of a busy train ride, which now feels a world away." 

Provenance:

Courtesy of the artist

Condition Report:

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