Connecting to your roots
Jason Wilcox is a multimedia artist from Kansas City encouraging viewers to use his work to see new perspectives.
In honor of the Kansas City Chiefs winning Super Bowl LVII, Actuality is featuring Kansas City artist Jason Wilcox.
Deeply connected to his roots in Kansas City, Wilcox has been creating paintings and prints of Chiefs players for years. The designs are even available on tee shirts, check it out here.
A multimedia artist, J Art Pro is the culmination of Wilcox’s creativity and skills in painting, graphic design, video production, and music. He takes elements of pop art, realism, and abstraction to put his own spin on the portraits he paints. Using large shapes and high contrast pops of color, each work has layers upon layers of detail.
Bel-Air, an original show on Peacock, has been a huge catalyst for Wilcox’s artwork. The show was created by Morgan Cooper, a Kansas City native, and he used the show as a platform to uplift artists and musicians from his home town. Cooper purchased artwork from Wilcox and reached out to have him create paintings for the show. Aunt Vivian, played by Cassandra Freeman, is an artist, so Wilcox provides all of the work for her character.
His portraits of each iconic character from Bel-Air are as dynamic as the personalties being portrayed. This painting of Will Smith played by Jabari Banks is featuring in the finale of season one.
Wilcox attended the Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts in Kansas City to continue refining his skills as an artist. He writes,
“My art tells a story about how I see life. Its beauty, its pain, its struggle and triumph. I create pieces that welcome you to see through your personal lens, while challenging you to consider another perspective.”
An active member of the Kansas City African American Artists Collective, his piece “Survivor” was part of their exhibition Testimony in 2021. Featuring depictions of Destiny’s Child and Liu Yifei, Mulan 2020, alongside chains and crowns in primary colors, Wilcox wrote “If you’re reading this you’ve made it this far you are a survivor.”
“I could tell you what Survivor means to me and what was going on in my head when I created it. But, if you’re reading this, I want you to have your own personal connection with this painting. I want you to have your own opinion, with your own free will of thinking, without any narrative that could possibly alter how you truly feel.
You’ve made it this far. How does it feel?”
Wilcox was even commissioned by Tyronn Lue, head coach of the LA Clippers, to create a painting for his home.
Follow him on Instagram @jasonartpro and check out his portfolio of paintings and prints here.