Meet Marbs, one of the founding members of Desert Hearts, an electronic music collective that is responsible for many cool parties and festivals. Marbs is a deep house and techno lover who shares our passion for modern art. On top of this, he designs Desert Hearts Black’s art by himself. Let’s take a closer look at his favorite modern artists.
Cover photo: © Out Here Visuals
Marbs’ favorite modern artists
Marbs is a Californian cool kid, who co-founded music collective Desert Hearts, after djing in San Diego for years. When you get to know Marbs, you understand why he is affectionally called “Papa Bear” by his team and intimates. Marbs is a humble and – most of all – multitalented guy.
Besides organizing jaw-dropping parties and festivals, producing irresistible tracks, he’s also the creative mind behind his label’s artwork – inspiring tattoo artists all over the world (and we understand why). Let’s take a look at his selection of favorite modern artists.
1. Mear One
“This has been one of my favorite artists for a long time now. The messages, stories, and tales told through his art are profound, spiritual, and deep. The actual art is so captivating and luring that I could stare at it for hours. Without going into too much detail, Mear One’s art has also sparked increases in intelligence for me by influencing me to research into his paintings and find out more about quantum physics, the spiritual world, and more. I was able to have him at one of our Desert Hearts Festivals and he’s just as much an incredible human as he is an artist.”
One of my favorite pieces: Self-Scientific
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8mwMg5pOHG/
2. Jesse Draxler
“This is one of my more recent favorite artists within the last year or two. His medium is mostly photo collages and mixed media. The style is heavy, dark, and brooding. The weight of his work is unavoidable and the second I found it I was mesmerized. He also has a book titled, “Misophonia” that shows a lot of his work. Highly recommended.”
One of my favorite pieces: untitled (as far as I know)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_As96HAm1w/
3. Gabriel Welch
“One of my favorites artists that we bring out to our Desert Hearts Festival. I contact him randomly online to ask him if he would be interested in doing art at our events and he immediately answered and got involved. He’s been a staple ever since. His work is very psychedelic, geometric, and transformational.”
One of my favorite pieces: Unknown Title
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Im3O5JdzU/
4. Alexis Diaz
“Alex is from Puerto Rico specializing in massive urban murals that have chimerical and dreamlike depictions of animals during states of metamorphosis. I found out about Alex when I bought an art book in Berlin titled, “Mural Masters: A New Generation.” His work is so detailed and realistic that its hard to not be overwhelmed by his talent. The amount of detail he puts into his work on such a massive scale is really hard to wrap your head around. Literally jaw dropping.”
One of my favorite pieces:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B94orcgHO69/
5. Ernst Haeckel
“Ernst is a very different artist than any of the others I’m listing. He died in 1919 and was a German zoologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist, and artist who depicted, discovered, described, and named thousands of new species of life. He is the author of several books that show these discoveries with detailed drawings. These drawings vary from microscopic organisms to large scale animals we still see today. His work has served as a massive inspiration to me in my own art channels since my preferred medium is pen, ink, and paper. The hyper detailed nature of his work is something to admire.”
One of my favorite pieces: The book titled, “The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8BqcBBI5X3/
6. Roger Dean
“Roger is an English artist, but also known for being a designer and publisher. He did a lot of artwork for musicians in the 1960’s; most recognized for the art he did for bands “Yes” and “Asia.” His work is very fantastical and whimsical. He creates scenes that look like they’re on another planet. I’ve loved him as an artist since I was a young boy.”
One of my favorite pieces: Unknown Title
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4UGHTOH7Gg/
7. Korigabs
“This is a longtime friend of mine that grew up in the same little surf town I did. Watching him grow alongside his art has been incredible. He’s really created a style around himself that, in my opinion, is completely original and a breath of fresh air in the world of abstract art. His pieces fit into any environment whether it be a home, music album, business space, retail store, clothing, surfboard design … you name it. It really fits into a lot of places and I think thats something both important and admirable in the current climate of art.”
Two of my favorite pieces: “Ze Alchemist” & “Merah” – the two pieces he made for me 🙂
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8urSmlHj_s/
8. Alex Grey
“I became an Alex Grey fan when I was very young. I first found out about him because I was a Tool fan and Alex Grey did the artwork for their Lateralus album. It’s been amazing to see his artwork develop over the years. Now Alex is a huge part of the festival and burning man communities. His artwork often has elements of Anatomy, Psychedelia and Spirituality.”
One of my favorite pieces: Net of Being
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-kJxf7F0aD/
9. Salvador Dalí
“Probably my longest running favorite artist of all time. If I had to be stuck on an island with only one persons art for the rest of my life it would probably be Dalí. It may be cliche, but thats for a reason. He’s the king of surrealism and after visiting the Dalí Theatre and Museum in Spain this year it only furthered my love and admiration for him. His museum is mind blowing and as a complete art piece in itself, his museum is probably my favorite of his works. Absolutely mind blowing and if you have the chance to see it, I highly recommend it.”
Favorite Piece: Dalí Theatre and Museum in Spain
https://www.instagram.com/p/By0Xy3qHlVC/
Discover Marbs’ music here.
If you like modern artists, then also read: How artist Gavin Turk confronts us with today’s society
