There are defining moments in an artist’s career that set into motion a floodgate of ideas that transports them into a completely different artistic direction; like the moment when Jackson Pollock came upon his drip technique or Andy Warhol realized his jam was transforming simple objects like soup cans and daisies into technicolor icons.

For local artist Bryan Valenzuela, having just completed a major art commission at the newly minted Golden 1 Center, this could very well be his defining moment. Valenzuela’s creativity easily transitions between painterly and orchestral movements—yes, this is the same Valenzuela who fronts, composes music and tours with the musical outfit Exquisite Corps—and he isn’t afraid to keep exploring new outlets for his artistic energies.

“I do a lot of thinking, and walking my dog—it’s really helpful to take a long walk,” Valenzuela says of his artistic process. “Once you sit down to start working, you do a million drawings to figure out what is in your head. I do a lot of planning and then when [I] actually start working on it, fate takes over. You can’t plan for everything. There’s a lot of accidents, so you just have to go with the flow; like the Louis Pasteur thing, chance favors the prepared mind.”

Multitudes Converge | 22′ X 36′ X 55′ | Glass, Stainless Steel, Silicon | 2016 || Photo by Joan Cusick

Valenzuela’s current work is a complete departure from much of the work that has come out of his studio in the last decade. The aerial sculpture inspired by the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers, aptly titled Multitudes Converge, is comprised of 400 glass spheres in varying dimensions that span from 12 to 20 inches and weighs about 8,000 pounds, yet appears to float effortlessly in an almost meditative state from the ceiling in one of the arena’s main thoroughfares.

“I came up with the idea to use glass, having never used glass before,” he admits. “It was like, ‘They’re going to give you X amount of money to do whatever the fuck you want, what would you do?’ And so being in the space, and thinking about the light that’s coming through that window, and trying to highlight the architecture using translucency, glass seemed like the perfect material.”

To bring his vision to life, Valenzuela jetted off to Europe and collaborated with some of the preeminent authorities in the world of glass. Through a hook up from Franz Mayer of Munich, a family-owned company that’s been producing glass for art and architectural projects since 1847, Valenzuela joined forces with Jilek 1905, s.r.o., one of the oldest glass-blowing enterprises in the Czech Republic, to create the hundreds of orbs required to form his floating river in the sky.

Bryan Valenzuela visits Franz Mayer of Munich on April 18, 2016, to discuss fabrication of his glass sculpture || Photo by Joan Cusick | Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission

“The Czech Republic is very well known internationally for their blown glass,” he explains. “We went through this company that’s even more of a family affair; within this one factory they put five people on my project, [including] the dad, the son, who is the lead glass blower, then a cousin and a niece. I got along really well with these guys, we drank a lot of beer and did a lot of artwork and samples together, and we were able to narrow down the possibilities based on my vision.”

The confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers is one of those natural-occurring phenomena that’s both awe-inspiring and confounding. At the point where the two waterways converge into one, they inexplicably manage to retain their singular beauty. The event is derived from the very characteristics that make them so distinct: debris, each waterway’s unique marine life and even the very chemical differences between the two bodies of water produce a vivid array of color and motion.

For Valenzuela, transforming this concept into an artistic framework was both challenging and rewarding—the idea was refined and shaped over several weeks before it coalesced into the bubbling river of greens, blues and violets currently hovering over the eager concertgoers and fervent sports fans swarming through the concourse of the Golden 1 Center.

“We live in such a fast-paced world and things are going by so quickly the internet has made it so that information is bombarding you at all times,” Valenzuela admits. “I don’t know if it’s at the forefront of my mind or more subconscious, but to be able to create something that is reflective, that is meditative, or that takes a moment—a lot of the work I do two-dimensionally has a lot of different layers and it demands that you spend time with it, it asks you to spend time either deciphering it or uncovering or discovering, and so I think it’s good to slow down like that. It seems like the world just keeps speeding up.”

Bryan Valenzuela || Photos by Joan Cusick | Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission

Valenzuela is no stranger to the power that public art can have on transforming space and those who interact within that space—in 2014 his artistic vision was tapped by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission to be a part of a public art project, along with 20 other artists, to complete a series of designs to transmute the dull, gray utility boxes that reside on the corners littered throughout downtown into works of art.

Valenzuela’s designs for two boxes titled Meta Mirror I and Meta Mirror II, greet waves of commuters, tourists and passersby who stroll by the corners of 8th and O streets and 7th Street and Capitol Avenue and depict everyday people sitting or standing around staring intently at their phones, plugged into the stream of information through their devices yet disengaged from their surroundings—connected yet detached.

Bryan Valenzuela | Meta Mirror I | 72″ x 113.5″ | Ink, Acrylic, Digital Media originally on paper and transferred as a vinyl wrap installation | 2014

“The art world is a very esoteric world, it’s not super inviting to a lot of people,” he admits. “In the gallery world, some people don’t feel welcomed in those spaces, but in a public space, people can stumble upon artwork and kind of be surprised by something. Rather than you seeking it out, it seeks you out. In a public space, you’re trying to create a conversation or beautify the city, and I like that idea, that people stumble upon something they would not normally seek out.”

Valenzuela’s first foray into sculpture has also allowed him to share the stage with some of the art world’s heavyweights—Jeff Koons’ 18-foot Piglet sculpture from his Coloring Book series and local art legend Gale Hart’s blown-up, deconstructed dart board were also selected to adorn the new arena’s public spaces.

Along with the tremendous opportunity to express his artistic sensibility at the new arena, Valenzuela has also amassed a series of prestigious awards that have afforded him other pretty legit moments in defining his place as a local creator—winning the Leff-Davis Fund for Visual Artists in 2014, and nabbing the Best of Show award at the 2015 California State Fair Fine Art Exhibition for his piece Bittersweet Sanctuary, to name a few.

But with all the commissions, awards and opportunities pouring in, Valenzuela isn’t just kicking back and soaking up the accolades. With a new project in the works for another piece to live in the corridors of City Hall, Valenzuela is focused on building on his current creative momentum and exploring new ways to connect with his audience. The artist even hinted at hooking back up with his musical cohorts in the spring and throwing in an upcoming show for that other audience of his. Spoiler alert: there’s already a new Exquisite Corps album waiting in the wings, ready to be mixed and released.

A Bittersweet Sanctuary | 60″ X 48″ | Ink, Acrylic, Thread, Gel Transfer on Canvas | 2014

“It’s been a really great year, so far,” he confides. “There’s obviously been challenges, it’s been difficult in certain areas but it’s been really fun, and stressful and exciting, and intense. I’m just looking to continue it and keep riding the wave.”

In addition to his piece at the Golden 1 Center, you can check out Bryan Valenzuela’s work at Beatnik Studios (alongside Rora Blue and Brian Shea) in an exhibit called Form-Lore, on display until Nov. 17, 2016. Go to Beatnik-studios.com for more info. You may also attend Valenzuela’s talk at the Crocker Art Museum, “Surrender to the Process,” on Nov. 16 at 1:15 p.m. This lecture is part of the Kingsley Art Club Lecture Series. Go to Crockerartmuseum.org to learn more.

On A Bed Of Chaos I’ve Milked These Dreams | 40″ X 26″
Ink, Acrylic, Watercolor, Gel Transfer on Arches Watercolor Paper | 2016

Krylon Dreams

There seems to be an inherent marriage between the creation of art and the enforced destruction thereof by the powers that be. I mean, even John Lennon had an FBI file. So when local aerosol artist Paydirt7 first began his journey into the street-savvy world of writing on freight trains and buildings, he most likely had little inkling that he’d be targeted for the illegality of his work, despite its obvious radiance. But just as quickly, Paydirt7 hit”¦well, you know”¦and even has a commissioned piece hanging at City Hall. His work reflects both the vibrant urban decay of society and also the imaginary cartoon worlds of comics; but both breathe deeply with zeal, and there’s an irregular neo-tech tenderness to his work that separates the oil from the vinegar. Paydirt7 took some time out to chat with Submerge about his beginnings, his middles and why Beat Street changed his life.

I understand that when you started out, you encountered a bit of trouble due to spray painting on the sides of freight trains. Can you explain a little bit about that era of your foray into art?
Painting freight trains is an evolution of graffiti from the subways of New York. Instead of a train running just in one city, they roll across the country. To me, a piece on a train takes on a life of its own.

What made you gravitate toward aerosol as your preferred method of creating your art?
Before I had even touched a can of Krylon, I was drawing comic book heroes and doing watercolors—you know, that first set of watercolors they give to kids. I’d sit around for hours painting dinosaurs, drinking red Kool-Aid and eating saltine crackers. My first exposure to hip-hop was watching Beat Street as a kid. I think it was around ’85 or ’86, and it was playing on the VCR at a childhood birthday party. Back then it was more about break dancing, and I remember hanging out in front of the supermarket trying to spin on my back on a flattened cardboard box. I think shortly after that we upgraded to a sheet of linoleum. That feeling of fun and creativity is what attracted me to hip-hop style graffiti. I started using an airbrush but got annoyed changing out all the cups of paint and being tethered to an air compressor. When painting murals 20 feet by 20 feet, it’s much quicker with spray paint. I can blast large areas of color with a fat cap and climb to the top of ladders with a papoose full of spray cans. I just like the mobility it provides. Also there is a sense of adventure and interaction with your environment painting outdoors with aerosol.

Your work reflects a lot of different influences, from comics to urban street art to pop culture; do you enjoy working outside of a presumed theme for your pieces?
There are so many styles and subject matters to explore. Some times I feel like Bob Ross, other times I feel like painting ridiculously exaggerated cartoon characters and graffiti letters. No matter what it is, I think my underlying technique and touch shows through.

What did it mean to you to be commissioned for a piece at City Hall after having so many speed bumps with legal issues?
I grew up in Sacramento and it’s a pretty small community, so it’s kind of hard to hide from the po-po. I started writing in ’93 and shortly after that began receiving commissions by local businesses. I always wanted to go to art school but did not have the rich parents to pay for it. Also, I was already making a decent living painting murals so why go into debt paying back student loans? When I turned 18, I began teaching computer graphics and mural painting classes to kids in the day, and at night I would be painting freights in the yard. Shit was nice for a while, but when five cop cars show up at your house with a search warrant and you find the FBI has been watching you for the last year, things change. So I guess starting in the street and ending up with a painting in City Hall is a great irony.

What piece of yours are you most proud of?
Top of the list would be when I went to Europe and painted passenger trains in Switzerland. Watching the train I painted five hours ago roll in to the station bustling with people had me jumping out of my sneakers. I imagine it’s the closest I’ll ever come to experiencing what the original writers in New York must have felt when they saw their pieces running on the subway.

About how many pieces do you create in any given year? How prolific of an artist are you?
Now days I’ve been doing lots of commercial work and it’s hard to find time to paint just for me. I tried for a long time to do two to three paintings for every commissioned piece, but when your hobby becomes your career, you need to find some time to walk the dog. I have some real radical pieces that I’m working on right now—a 12-foot by 8-foot canvas that’s going to disturb some people. Also, I’m becoming more involved in animation and making video of graffiti inspired letter structures that bounce and pulse to music.

To whom or what do you owe your dedication to perfecting and progressing your craft?
My father was born in Hawaii and learned to carve traditional style tikis from a native Hawaiian. So having 5-foot-tall, meticulously detailed sculptures around the house while I was growing up showed me what could be achieved with patience and concentration.