HF Vol. 23 artist Mark Dean Veca celebrated the opening of “Everlast” (previewed here) last weekend at Western Project, Los Angeles. His pop culture fused, immaculate paintings and drawings are inspired by 1970s signage and cartoons. Looney Tunes characters like Tweety and the Tasmanian Devil are literally given a new twist in Veca’s style, whose linework makes them appear twisting and organic.
The psycheldia of the 70s is also apparent in his Fender and Zildjian logos, breathing attitude into these corporate identities. Veca shares, “For years now I’ve been interested in the negative space in and around letter-forms, particularly logos in a certain script, like the Fender logo. When I see these spaces I get an urge or compulsion to define and articulate them, to make them the figure, not the ground.” Other words such as Liquor Mart and Breakfast Burritto are more specific images to his childhood in San Francisco, which remains to be an important influence on his work. Through simple but powerful changes of shape, color, and font, Veca is able to evoke emotions with visual design.
“Everlast” will be on view at Western Project, Los Angeles through November 29.
UK graphic designer and artist 
Argentinian artist 
Canadian artist 
Brooklyn based