JEZE July 2012 : Page 106

106 meet + greet meet + greet meet + greet meet + greet Artist, designer A canvas titled, “They Leave,” from the Look Away series A Marilyn Monroe-inspired canvas, titled “Don’t Believe the Hype” An original design from the Heaven or Hell and rebel Reid Bowman, aka Drue Dun series Alter Ego Artiste Reid Bowman channels “Drue Dun” to paint a new picture of the American South. You wouldn’t have guessed it, but there was a time when artist Reid Bowman was fed up. “I beat myself up,” Bowman says of his early forays into art. “I was really embarrassed about what I did. I wouldn’t tell people about it. They would see a sketchbook and ask what it was, and I would say, ‘Ah, it’s nothing.’” Bowman, who always had a taste for creativity, did his best to put it to the wayside. For a long time, he was happy appraising real estate. He wanted the picket fence and the big pretty house, but he couldn’t keep his need to create art at bay. “That’s kind of where Drue Dun came from,” Bowman says, referencing his alter ego. “I thought I was done, that I was over it. But I just couldn’t stay away from paint pens and sketchbooks. Drue Dun became a new persona for the work I needed to do.” So the ending became a beginning, and Bowman dove in. It took a stint honing his skills in London to allow him to see his home with new eyes. “I realized that the South, for a lot of people [outside of the country], is the most fascinating region of the United States,” he says. “People have such a perception of this place and what it means to be from here.” Tapping into this fascination, Bowman began crafting his unique brand of social commentary through the lens of his life in the South. His Look Away collection, for one, channels Gone With the Wind and General Sherman’s march through Atlanta. It also, as he puts it, challenges people to look away from their biased perception of the Southern artist—“to consider the unconsidered.” In the past few years, Bowman, as Dun, has put out several collections, ranging from canvases depicting new interpretations of popular culture—his Cold Hard compilation alludes to James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Uncle Sam; his Heaven or Hell series shouts out to religion’s role in Southern culture through reimaginings of Renaissance masterworks—to a catalogue of limited-edition clothing ($20 tees and high-end garments), with hand-applied designs inspired by his original work. Locally, his original canvases grace the walls of private collectors, and his designer duds are donned by the hipster elite. But for someone who apparently was so “Dun,” Bowman is just getting started. He brought his taste to Columbia, S.C.’s, ﬁ rst Fashion Week in June and will hit the West Coast later this summer. The one shared thread of his oeuvres? “Everything I do has a point that needs to be made,” he says. “A direction. Something that sheds light on what’s left in the dark.” Ironically, commanding the spotlight these days has left little of that. druedun.com, @druedun —Written and photographed by Austin Holt meet + greet meet + greet meet + greet meet + greet

Alter Ego Artiste

Reid Bowman channels “Drue Dun” to paint a new picture of the American South. You wouldn’t have guessed it, but there was a time when artist Reid Bowman was fed up. “I beat myself up,” Bowman says of his early forays into art. “I was really embarrassed about what I did. I wouldn’t tell people about it. They would see a sketchbook and ask what it was, and I would say, ‘Ah, it’s nothing.’” Bowman, who always had a taste for creativity, did his best to put it to the wayside. For a long time, he was happy appraising real estate. He wanted the picket fence and the big pretty house, but he couldn’t keep his need to create art at bay. “That’s kind of where Drue Dun came from,” Bowman says, referencing his alter ego. “I thought I was done, that I was over it. But I just couldn’t stay away from paint pens and sketchbooks. Drue Dun became a new persona for the work I needed to do.” So the ending became a beginning, and Bowman dove in. It took a stint honing his skills in London to allow him to see his home with new eyes. “I realized that the South, for a lot of people [outside of the country], is the most fascinating region of the United States,” he says. “People have such a perception of this place and what it means to be from here.” Tapping into this fascination, Bowman began crafting his unique brand of social commentary through the lens of his life in the South. His Look Away collection, for one, channels Gone With the Wind and General Sherman’s march through Atlanta. It also, as he puts it, challenges people to look away from their biased perception of the Southern artist—“to consider the unconsidered.” In the past few years, Bowman, as Dun, has put out several collections, ranging from canvases depicting new interpretations of popular culture—his Cold Hard compilation alludes to James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Uncle Sam; his Heaven or Hell series shouts out to religion’s role in Southern culture through reimaginings of Renaissance masterworks—to a catalogue of limited-edition clothing ($20 tees and high-end garments), with hand-applied designs inspired by his original work. Locally, his original canvases grace the walls of private collectors, and his designer duds are donned by the hipster elite. But for someone who apparently was so “Dun,” Bowman is just getting started. He brought his taste to Columbia, S.C.’s, first Fashion Week in June and will hit the West Coast later this summer. The one shared thread of his oeuvres? “Everything I do has a point that needs to be made,” he says. “A direction. Something that sheds light on what’s left in the dark.” Ironically, commanding the spotlight these days has left little of that. Druedun.com, @druedun —Written and photographed by Austin Holt

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