Bryan Espiritu

Bryan Espiritu, born in 1981 in Toronto, Canada, renowned for his innovative use of typography, language, and mark-making, has consistently used these elements as a haven for creative expression. His works often carry bold messages centred around his personal journey through trauma, mental health, violence, and queerness. An accomplished writer, designer and self-taught illustrator, Bryan’s work is characterized by bold, simplified forms or stylized, often childlike expressions of realism. Bryan has honed his illustrative skills and paired his personal writings with rigorously painted letter forms, reminiscent of Richard Prince, Ed Ruscha and Glenn Ligon, while figuration and monochromatic colour palette depict the deliberate choice to paint and draw with a looser hand, inspired by the works of Robert Motherwell and post-war abstraction. Pairing raw canvas and original and poetic thoughts with loose, powerful symbolic images beautifully bridges the gap between the painful experiences of his youth and the refined creativity evident in his more mature works.

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