When Brock Seals claims everything is his canvas, he means it. His bold brush strokes are showcased everywhere, from Nike logos on Air Force 1 sneakers to the exterior panels of residential homes.
But his creativity isn’t limited to visual sightings downtown or in Forest Park. He equally dedicates time to his other creative outlet: rap music. And both of those mediums fuse in his passion for social justice.
Lately, his most notable artworks are huge memorials dedicated to George Floyd and Chadwick Boseman.
“I consider myself like a keeper of time; I like to just highlight some of these moments, or the culture. So I just kind of keep a record of what's going on,” he said on Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air.
Seals joined host Sarah Fenske to talk about his “artivism,” a term coined to describe the intersection between art and activism.
“I've always had my opinion on things, but I was never the type to put it out there as much as I could. But it wasn't until I kind of got really comfortable with my art [that] I found that I could use my art to speak for me when I kind of get activated,” he explained.
Seals plans on continuing documenting his journey with an upcoming project called “The Artivist.”
“This project is a little more personal. It is talking about my journey from high school to college, just navigating life, trying to find my purpose, my meaning, ‘What am I here to do?’ And it talks about what I've been doing as of late with the artivism,” he added.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by Sarah Fenske and produced by Alex Heuer, Emily Woodbury, Evie Hemphill and Lara Hamdan. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
