Joey Feldman is a man of many passions. He is a painter, illustrator, lover of rap music and runs a streetwear merch line that sells out in hyper-speed. He even dabbles in the NFT space. Through his variety of pursuits, there seems to be one major through line that leads us into his creative ether: an inherent desire to parcel his experiences. Though Feldman is a self-described homebody—“I won’t even go to a concert anymore”—his approach and work bears in mind the collective existing in the zeitgeist past, present, and beyond. He recalls the time he taught a non-credit illustration class at an institute back on the East Coast, where “all the teachers and students were in competition like they were afraid of each other. When everything falls to shit, artists should come together. It gives me hope to keep going.” He notes that he’s heavily influenced by the synergetic nature of rap and listens to it while he works. “It’s all so collaborative. It’s like the new punk rock.” Growing up in Philadelphia, Feldman didn’t quite vibe with the more conservative art sensibility driven mostly by the city’s fine art institute. Feldman began working at the now defunct Tower Records in Philadelphia from 1989 to 1991, where he was exposed to art that was better suited to ultimately inform and solidify his artistic perspective when he later moved to the West Coast to shape and develop his own style. Read More
