Graffiti Goes Back to Its Roots at Beck’s Urban Canvas

Beck's yearly Urban Canvas acknowledges and celebrates cutting-edge work by local emerging artists. Following the project's groundbreaking debut last year, five contemporary artists were recently invited to each put their own spin on a Beck's billboard, all of which were unveiled in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood at the launch of the second annual event. Members of the public were then invited to vote on their favorite re-appropriated Beck's billboard on BecksUrbanCanvas.com, with the winning billboard setting the tone for a future Beck's campaign. Now, the winning artist has been announced, and it's DJ Neff.

The five participating artists effectively showcased their unique talents, beginning with Swiss artist Leza One, who painted one of his trademark street-art warrior women. "I wanted to depict an intense experience," he tells The Creators Project. "I wanted to feel free and happy doing it, and translate that feeling onto the canvas. I thought of what you feel when you drink a fresh Beck's beer during a hot day in the summer. Colorful thoughts came to my mind, so I used a whole rainbow of colors, mixed them together to obtain this colorful portrait of a woman with an intense look. It's all about feelings, translated in paint."

Christina Angelina also transposed her own hypnotic, spray-painted signature style onto her billboard. "The piece is inspired by the natural and energetic world, laced with loose nods to alchemy," she explains. "The image and the action of painting it is relating to the element of wind and naturally occurring electricity: a mini-meditation on the unbridled and unharnessed existence of vital elements that are prone to violent outbursts. The large spray-painted strokes felt like swordplay, aggressively slicing into the large panel."

Meanwhile, artist Juan Travieso painted a stunning image of a wolf, adhering to the compelling presentation of his endangered-species paintings. Santiago Rubino also worked in line with his existing ethereal and illustrative style. But it was DJ Neff's cheeky wordplay and nod to old-school urban art that swept up 47% of the vote.

Neff is the artist behind the CANLOVE collective, which recycles used spray-paint cans in order to create new works. "I've cut open by hand at least 25,000 cans to date, and produced countless artworks and installations with the CANLOVE team," he tells The Creators Project. "And now because of the dedication I have had to a particular cause, and creations made of cans, I've been asked to make other artwork and installations from all sorts of materials from all sorts of people."

That includes Beck's, which has enabled Neff to come back to his roots as a graffiti artist. It's also given him the opportunity to paint one of his favorite characters from his beloved "Mole Patrol" squad. "By concentrating on a certain character type, I felt like it really advanced my painting ability," he says. "Instead of the constant challenge of, What to paint? I had a foundation to stand on for concept. I could then have fun with putting them into situations and channel my emotions through their gestures. I also noticed the response to my work from others was better, and that people really love characters. I really try to paint a mole or two wherever I travel, even if it's a small one, because it's such a personal character to me, and it means a lot to see them living around the world." Maybe Neff's mole (or two) will make it onto another Beck's billboard in the future. We’ll see.

Follow DJ Neff on Instagram and visit his website here. Follow CANLOVE on Instagram and visit the website here.

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