Artist David Choe has blazed muted walls with color and illustration. He has added vibrancy to otherwise stoic faces and traversed around the world, capturing the fundamentals of life and representing them through art. Whether it is on canvas or walls, using spray paint or acrylic, Choe finds a way to explore his vision.

His work is organic and rich, textured with emotion and raw grittiness; it is balanced and beautiful, harmonic and tragic and most importantly, honest and thought-provoking. Simply put, Choe is a visual alchemist; a figure who many youth emulate and who educated art snobs fear. Choe is able to channel the contradicting beauty of the streets and the distortion in humanity.

With an extensive background, Choe has contributed to numerous publications and his work has been showcased in dozens of galleries. With such talent and ingenuous technique, some question why he has submitted himself to self-destructiveness. Others, however, value his contributions and regard him as a true, artisitic visionary, an iconoclast, unafraid and unwilling to compromise to today’s standards.

In the documentary Dirty Hands: The Art & Crimes of David Choe, by Harry Kim,Choe is presented in his natural setting. His nuances, peculiarities, fears and happiness is exposed for all to see. Except this time, instead of critiquing him, try and sit back and learn a thing or two.

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Upperplayground is offering 2 Bay area residents a chance to win tickets to attend the screening of Dirty Hands: The Art & Crimes of David Choe. For more info, please go here.